Traveling to Christchurch - Landscapes on the Road

My wife and I have been traveling to Christchurch regularly over the last two months (overnight trips every fortnight) for medical appointments, and have been enjoying playing 'tourist'. We both spent our 20s and early 30s living in Christchurch, so know it very well. But having lived on the West Coast for the last 18 years, we've been 'rediscovering' areas that we havn't been to in a good long while.

I don't 'do' selfies, but when in Rome (as they say), if you're going to play tourist you may as well act like them. So with iPhone in hand, we posed for a very rare selfie in the recently re-opened Christchurch Arts Centre (closed after the Christhchurch earthquakes). The front-facing camera on the iPhone 6 isn't the greatest camera in the world, but you get the idea, and it's only for posting on the web anyway. Fortunately, I've also been bringing my Canon 50D with me as well.

It's mid-winter here in New Zealand (as I write this), and on our last trip 'over the hill' (as we locals call it) - the Southern Alps were spectacular. Dusted with a layering of snow and lit by beautiful winter light.

Southern Alps towards Arthur's Pass. Canon 50D with Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. F8 @ 1/400th, ISO 200

This is a scene I have driven past many times and always wanted to stop and photograph. Often it hasn't been practical to do so (kids in the car, time constraints, horrible conditions), but on this trip the photography planets aligned and I had the time, conditions and obliging travel companion (thanks honey). What has always caught my eye in this scene are the braided rivers leading towards the mountains. Add with a dusting of snow, crisp light and blue skies, you have the right recipe for my kind of photo!

The Great Alpine Highway. Canon 50D with Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. F8 @ 1/320th, ISO 200. Cokin Polariser

Sometimes leading lines and perspective works in your favour. In the above image, the road, fence posts, icy puddles, car and power lines all lead your eye towards the hero of the image - those beautiful snow covered hills. This is a shot I've stopped and taken before, but never in quite these conditions. I find the clarity of the light quite intoxicating.

A light dusting. Canon 50D with Sigma 17-50mm

This is from the same spot, but an entirely different angle. In this image I was attracted to the clumps of snow in the grass that lead the eye up towards the hill and sky. Similar in effect to the image with the braided river and Southern Alps above.

I'm a bit of a fare-weather photographer if I'm being honest. I love blue skies with white clouds, crisp, clear days and deep greens and blues. Some photographers look for the dark, stormy and moody, preferring to go out when it's wet and wild. There was a popular catchphrase among Youtube photographers in the UK recently that said "Embrace the Grey". One photographer I follow even grumpily announces on his videos that he 'hates blue skies'. Not me. I love them.

Don't get me wrong, I like a bit of drama in some of my images - of course I do. But I prefer a clear day to a rainy one. In fact if it's wet and rainy (which it often is here on the West Coast), then I don't go out at all. And yes, that does mean that there are many weekends that I don't go out and shoot. So be it.

Mid-Winter at Castle Hill Sheep Station. Canon 50D with Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. F8 @ 1/100th, ISO 200. Cokin Polariser

Castle Hill is one of those well-photographed locations. Hundreds of people from all over the world visit it every day (probably thousands in Summer) - especially since it appeared in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies (minus the sheep).

This is about as picture perfect as it gets and I'm delighted to now have the shot. Picture perfect images, or 'chocolate box' photography as it is often derogatorily referred to, has gotten a bad rap for many years. Probably still does to be fair. For decades in the artworld, 'beauty' was a taboo word. "Embrace the beauty" I say. I'm lucky enough to live in a jaw-droppingly beautiful part of the world, and be damned if I'm not going to try my best to capture and honour that in my photography. Chocolate box be damned!

Gondola ride, Avon River. Canon 50D with Sigma 17-50mm f2.8

And it doesn't get more Chocolate boxy than a Gondola ride on the Avon River at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens! Maybe it's a bit late in the season for the complete chocolate box package - some more autumnal leaves on the trees would be nice. But I've got some autumn colours there, and the light is gorgeous.

My wife and I spent a lovely morning wandering around the gardens. Me snapping away at random gondola riders, and she patiently stopping every five minutes for me to take said snaps. She got her payback later in the morning when we discovered the Botanic Gardens gift shop which is a new addition we hadn't visited before. A pleasant hour was spent looking around the gift shop, oohing and ahhing at the wonderful products they have on display there. Many of the gifts are garden themed (a lot of William Morris products), but all were rather beautiful (there's that word again). Well worth a look if you are ever in Christchurch and visiting the Gardens.

Homeward Bound. Canon 50D with Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. F11 @ 1/250th, ISO 200

I've called the last image Homeward Bound for fairly obvious reasons really. This was taken on our trip home, the next day, with conditions almost as good as the previous days trip up. Almost, but not quite. I still like the image, and I'm glad I stopped to take it, but I don't think it will win any awards.

But then again, photography's not always about the awards, is it? At least it shouldn't be. More often than not it's more about capturing memories. Memories of a trip away with my wonderful wife, on a beautiful mid-winters weekend. Of picture-perfect scenery, gorgeous light, crisp air and blue skies. My kind of photography heaven.