North Island Holiday - Part Two

In my last post I introduced some images from a holiday my wife and I took recently to the North Island. Our destination for the first three days of our trip was Matarawa, just north of Greytown, in the Wairarapa. We had been invited to stay by my wife's Uncle Bill in the family homestead, where Uncle Bill (88yrs young) lives on land that has been in the family for generations. It's an idyllic, peaceful spot and a great place to unwind and relax.

Matarawa Sunrise. Panasonic Lumix S5 with S 20-60mm. F/8 @ 1/100th, ISO 800

The first morning of what felt like the 'real' start to our holiday started bright and early with a magnificent sunrise. My wife woke me around 6.00am and suggested we might like to get outside with our cameras - right now! It was a beautiful sunrise, and an amazing way to start the photography aspect of the holiday. 

What I love about using the Panasonic S5 is its incredible ibis (in-body-image-stabilisation) and its fantastic low-light capabilities. With the full frame 24MP sensor I will happily crank the ISO up to 6400 if I have to without incurring any noise issues. Hand-holding shots at sunrise gives perfectly sharp results. I'm also amazed at the IQ I get from the 20-60mm 'kit' lens. Some say that it isn't the sharpest lens around, and while this may be true, my copy is plenty sharp for me!

Matarawa Morning. Lumix S5 with S 20-60mm. f/8 @ 1/400th, ISO 800

This is my favorite shot of that first morning. The light is just gorgeous! It was a beautiful location, with beautiful light, so we were spoilt for choice. Great images presented themselves wherever we looked. It really was a perfect way to start the holiday, and I was a bit worried that we had peaked before we'd even begun! (Spoiler alert, we hadn't).

Before going away my wife and I created an itinerary, so we could make the most of our time away and get to the places that interested us the most. With only two weeks away, and at a different place almost every day, we needed to be a bit targeted so we weren't spending time sitting around making decisions.

With this in mind, for our first day with Uncle Bill he had suggested taking us to Castle Point to see the lighthouse there. I'm a sucker for a good lighthouse, so was very keen. And even better, Uncle Bill insisted that he chauffer us so we could just sit back and relax. Sounded good to me.

Castle Point Lighthouse. Lumix S5 with S 20-60mm. f/8 @ 1/1250th, ISO 400

To say that we had a perfect day at Castle Point would be an understatement. The weather was simply amazing - the clouds were incredible - and the lighthouse was stunning. It's a short (but somewhat steep) walk up to the lighthouse, and there are several caution signs along the way that warn of dangerous high winds. As exposed as the lighthouse is, I can imagine it could get pretty fierce up there. We, however, had nothing but the very gentlest of breezes. Amazing.

I loved pretty much all the photos I took at Castle Point, but the above photo captures the place perfectly. Standing at 52 meters above sea level, it is the North Island's tallest lighthouse, and one of only two in New Zealand that is still lit by the original rotating fresnel lens. It's a truly impressive sight, and is super easy to get to, and to photograph.

The Shop - Castlepoint Store. Lumix S5 with S 20-60mm. f/8 @ 1/1600th, ISO 400

After spending an amazing couple of hours exploring and photographing the lighthouse, we drove back into Castlepoint village to have lunch. I noticed this sign on the side of the Castlepoint dairy and couldn't resist taking a photo. It's such a typical image of 'kiwiana' it could have been taken 50 years ago in the 1970s.

I love taking 'retro' images of old stuff (cars, buildings etc), and this would become a reoccurring theme throughout our holiday. We had our itinerary sorted out, but had given ourselves plenty of time for random stops along the way for photographic opportunities. Something I was very keen to make the most of.

Old barn, Tinui. Panasonic Lumix S5 with S 20-60mm. f/8 @ 1/200th, ISO 200.

On the way back to Matarawa, we passed through the little town of Tinui. The name comes from the Maori words 'ti' (cabbage tree) and 'nui' (many). It also claims (apparently falsely) to be the first locality to have had an ANZAC ceremony.

What it did have, was this very old barn that I simply had to take a photo of. As I said, this is my kind of photo. I love the rustic feel of these photos - the colours, the history, the sense of time, and also something of the sadness of these buildings that speak of a bygone era. I also just think they look cool...

Over the last couple of years (maybe even longer) I've been struggling with my photography - or more precisely my photography motivation. I haven't really been that bothered to get out and make images, and I felt that maybe a large part of this was familiarity breeding contempt?

After only one day on holiday in the Wairarapa, I had been pulled out of this 'funk' and felt completely re-energised photographically. In the space of about 10 hours I'd taken maybe some of the best photos I think I've ever taken. Matarawa Morning in particular is right up there with my favorite photos of all time! And some of the Castlepoint Lighthouse aren't too far behind!

Yes, I was 'lucky' with the light and the weather conditions, but it was also about being out with the camera, exploring new locations, and getting inspired by these fresh subjects. And this was just day one in the North Island...

North Island Holiday - Part One.

I don't get out much.

Seriously - it seems the older I get, the less I want to leave the comfort of home. Twenty years ago I would have been out most weekends, up at the crack of dawn, chasing the good light - and the good images. But not anymore.

And I certainly don't go away on many holidays. I could practically count them on one hand.

To some extent, this comes down to the fact that holidays are so damn expensive - and getting expensiverer (yes, I know that's not a word) every year. And I'm not even talking overseas. Travelling in your own country, paying for accommodation, and eating out, can be eye-wateringly costly.

But then again, what price do you put on experiences? Or relaxation (not that travelling is all that relaxing necessarily - but I digress). Yes, it costs too much. But I do know that when my wife and I have bitten the bullet and gone away together for any extended period, 'on holiday', we have thoroughly enjoyed it.

So maybe I should. You know. Get out more...

Mawheraiti Rail Shed, West Coast. Fujifilm X100. f/5.6 @ 1/750th, ISO 400

So I did. 

My wife and I finally took a trip we had been talking about for at least a couple of years. We'd never quite managed it for all sorts of reasons - and almost didn't go at the last minute this time either (but that's another story that I'm not going to tell). But in the end, the Ferry was booked, accommodation sorted, the dog was kenneled, and off we went - to explore the central North Island. First stop - a night in Blenheim (so we could catch the Bluebridge Ferry and cross to the North Island early the next morning).

I didn't get far - about 30 minutes into the trip - before I wanted to stop and take a photo of the above shed (see, it's working already). Shot on the Fujifilm X100, it's just the kind of image I love taking. Little did I know at this stage in the journey that there would be a lot more images like this over the next two weeks!

Lake Rotoiti - Nelson Lakes National Park. Fujifilm X100. f/5.6 @ 1/1250th, ISO 400 

The trip to Blenheim takes you past the Nelson Lakes area, and in particular Lake Rotoiti - which is just a five minute diversion off the main highway. It's a beautiful lake, with stunning scenery in all seasons and in all weather. Although if you are there on a beautiful hot day in summer the mosquitoes will eat you alive! I was outside for all of about two minutes before I headed for the relative safety of the car. They really know how to ruin a good day....

The above photo, taken on the X100, has been cropped to square - simply because I didn't stay out with the mosquitoes long enough to compose perfectly, and also because in the original 3:2 image there was nothing happening on the left hand side. So I cropped it later in post. Ironically, when I had a Bronica film camera that used the square format I found it a real struggle composing 1:1. But now I tend to 'see' images in this format quite a lot. Go figure.

Wairau Valley Garage. Fujifilm X100. f/5.6 @ 1/1250th, ISO 400

Eventually we drove through the Wairau Valley - wine growing country - only 30 minutes outside of Blenheim. Again, I had to stop and take a photo of this abandoned garage, even though the light was dreadful! This would be amazing with soft light, or early morning light streaming into the front of the building. 

But I didn't have that kind of light, did I. I had very bright, mid afternoon, harsh light and shadows that were a nightmare to get detail from. Despite this, the X100 has done extremely well. It also helps that I shot it in RAW so I could push and pull detail out later on.

No, it's not great (or even good) light, but it is a great subject. I certainly wasn't going to hang around for a few hours for the light to get good. And that's another thing about being on holiday. Sometimes it will be the only time you will ever be at a particular location in your life, so golden light be damned! Just get shooting. And when light gives you lemons.... (or something like that).

Etrich Taube (Dove) - Aviation Heritage Centre. Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/5.6 @ 1/30th, ISO 3200

Our ultimate destination on day one of the trip - apart from our accommodation in Blenheim - was to visit the Aviation Heritage Centre. It houses the personal collection of WWI and WWII memorabilia of Sir Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame), as well as several full-scale diorama's built by Weta Workshop (more on them later).

We had somewhat limited time, so decided to concentrate this visit on seeing the WWI exhibition. We will definitely go back at some stage and see the WWII exhibit as well.

Since this is a photography blog and not the history channel, I won't go into great detail about what planes are which, where the were made, what battles they were in etc. But I will say that the exhibitions are a lot of fun (and a challenge) to photograph. Although I had been using the Fujifilm X100 up to this point on the trip, for the exhibition I switched to my Lumix S5 with 20-60mm - for a couple of probably obvious reasons.

Siemens-Shuckert D.IV. Panasonic Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/5.6 @ 1/200th, ISO 3200

Firstly, I was going to be dealing with a lot of low-light. So I wanted two settings to help me get sharp images; a high yet clean ISO setting, and image stabilisation. This the S5 has. The X100 - not so much.

Second, I wanted a bit more 'reach' at both ends - wide and telephoto. The fixed 35mm of the X100 was going to be too limiting in confined spaces. The Lumix S 20-60mm was perfect. The above images at ISO 3200 are fantastic - sharp and with very little noise. An excellent result.

Not a lot of people know this, but my 'other' hobby is building military scale models and putting them in dioramas. So getting to see these full-size dioramas from Weta Workshop up close was truly amazing. If you are in New Zealand, and find yourself anywhere near Blenheim, I highly recommend spending a day at the Aviation Heritage Centre.

Aviation Heritage Centre, Blenheim. Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/5.6 @ 1/800th, ISO 100. 65:24 ratio

For our first day on holiday, I'd say it was a great success, and an excellent way to start the trip. It wasn't a 'photography' holiday as such, but my wife is well aware of who she married - and we had scheduled our time to include creative stops along the way. As a matter of fact, she just happens to be a very good photographer herself, with an excellent eye for an image. And although she used her iphone the whole time, at least half of her photos are practically identical to mine! I would often get to a scene and start to get ready, only to find that my wife would already be standing in the exact spot I wanted to stand in! And now she's even talking about getting a 'real' camera! I approve....😊

So that's day one. We were away for 12 days. More posts will follow....