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SH94 to Milford Sound Blog
30 April 2024
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9th May 2023
In the last month we have been lucky enough to have had a trip to the capital, Wellington for Easter weekend! What a marvelous thing to do eh, apart from in New Zealand everything shuts for Easter! It’s like Christmas back home but even the pubs shut here! Eeeeee!
With that said, it did force us to unwind and explore the city differently to what we usually would/intended (Bars!). It turns out, it was a really nice and relaxing weekend full of coffee, nice food and walks around the parks. We also finally visited Te papa, the national museum and Zealandia - a huge bird sanctuary within walking distance of the capital city! Ding dong!
In other news we have looked after our neighbours dog Shiloh (pictured right with my wife) and found photographing her really fun! Maybe a new venture (?!)
I have also updated my portfolio to include more category’s to show off some of my other work and also to highlight the use of different camera settings.
Please take a look here —->
Si’ Thi’
6th April 2023
Woof woof! What a 5 months since my last blog update!
So in December through until March we had family visiting us in NZ for the 1st time, which was absolutely epic!
My Big bro, Mum & Dad, Sarah’s Mum and her partner all came to visit with our wedding being in the middle of their visits. We had a 3 week holiday down on the South Island, touring round with my folks was like a dream come true! So yes, I’ve been very busy with not just our wedding but 3 others to go to as guests!
What a loved up summer!
With this said, photography really did take a back seat, with so many things juggling around in our heads, organising our folks trips and our own wedding day! But with our wedding day and our friends weddings it really gave me a chance to talk to and observe wedding photographers in their field of work, and get some tips along the way. Our photographer, Erica Kurth, did such a fantastic job for us, I can’t speak highly enough of her work. She worked seamlessly, on our day, never knowing she was taking the shots, other than the standard family ones, and wow what a result! The photos were stunning. It really makes me proud of our day when I’ve seen her photographs capturing the vibes of the day. It really inspired me to start taking more photographs of people and getting that connection with a subject, rather than a Bird/Rock/Sea that gives nothing back. There is something so beautiful about capturing those special, natural moments from people enjoying themselves.
So my new project is just this, as I try to expand on my photography journey, upskilling myself and creating photographs that connect with folk!
Lets see what the next few months bring eh!
‘al’ Si’thi
13th November 2022
And before you know it, its chuffing November! Where did that come from?!
So the legs getting better by the day, meaning I’m now able to walk freely and regularly for long distances, and just in time for the Summer!
We've recently had a few more trips out to the west coast of Auckland. One trip was back to Muriwai for Sarah to have her first ever surf lesson, and the other was to a place called Karekare, just south of Piha. Both are about an hour away from our home and has become a journey I’ve come to love. That feeling of leaving the city behind and within an hour, feel like you’ve been removed from all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, on the wild coast that looks and feels so untouched.
The journey to Karekare was pretty epic in itself. Driving to the top of the Waitakere ranges which you can see from central Auckland, before descending down a steep, winding, single track road into the rain forest. You feel like you’re descending into Jurassic Park or some other world place! Karekare itself is just a small hamlet of kiwi style houses that nestle in the forest - they look so cool! There’s nothing but some houses and a lifeguard club - it’s a popular spot for surfers.
Anyway, that’s about the extent of our travels recently, due to us being so busy with our wedding planning and other commitments.
Here’s my West Coast album -
8th October 2022
Its been a while my friends! I apologize there hasn’t been an update for a while and a lack of new images but much has been going on down under!
So as you are probably aware, I broke my leg in April and so had been off work for months, in which time I started this venture into the photography game and started the website etc etc. It turns out, I can’t just go around taking nice photographs all the time, I have to earn some money!
I started back at work in mid August and as such have been way too busy and tired to give the website any attention. Its such a shame as I was on a real roll with my photography back then and feel I have hit a wall!
However, last weekend I did something quite different in my world and went to the New Zealand Rally. This is something I used to be interested in as a kid and growing up but had kind of disappeared into the abyss in my life until I noticed a while back that the World Rally Championship was coming to my doorstep in Auckland! I felt I couldn’t let this one slide me by so bought my ticket and off I went for the day, with the whole intention to shoot a new type of subject to what I am used to.
I honestly can’t describe how fantastic a day I had. I simply loved the atmosphere among the fans, the noise from the cars, and the driving I witnessed was out of this world! I really enjoyed the challenge of using faster shutter speeds and trying to shoot a fast moving target, but whilst still trying to compose my shots artistically to tell a story.
As the photos of mucky cars and race courses isn’t usually my scene I have been left toying with actually posting the shots on my website, as its not the look I wanted to create. But I’m so pleased with my results I think I’m going to have to!
Please take a look and let me know what you think!
See you at the finish line!
7 August 2022
So here we go, into the deep. A Fresh start and a big jump into the unknown. My website is now live!
So on the 30th April 2022 I broke my leg playing football. It was a pretty horrific experience and one that still haunts me 3 months on. The pain was out of this world and its something I never want to go through again. The recovery has been long, tiring, painful and fustrating but I can now see the light. I have just this week started walking without crutches which is such a huge step in my recovery.
Anyway, these past 3 months have given me the time and head space to really think about what I want to do and where I want to be say, in 5 years time.
Photography has always been an interest of mine and sparked on by being sat at home for weeks on end, I have decided to make a new website and sell prints of my shots. I have no idea what to expect, I highly doubt anybody will buy anything, but I just have to try it. I do feel that something somewhere has been urging me to do this for some time now and finally having the time to action it has been a real silver lining to my injury.
I have learnt a lot about myself these past 3 months and 1 thing is for sure and that is that photography is a passion of mine that I have mistakenly long suppressed due to lack of confidence or motivation.
I feel photography goes hand in hand with a lot of my interests. Hiking, the outdoors, scenery, exploration, travel, planning on maps where to go, and of course, finding new local pie shops to sample!
So as I have said I have decided to up my game and to do that I knew I had to up my gear too. I was using a D5600 DSLR camera which was fantastic for me to get into photography, a real fun camera to use and one I will miss to be honest but I have sold it to another beginner photographer down in Nelson who I hope will enjoy it as much as me! So having sold my DSLR I have decided to go full frame and mirrorless in the form of a Nikon Z5. This is Nikons entry level full frame Mirrorless camera but still cost quite a wedge. So I have to take this moment to thank my partner Sarah for her continued encouragement and support in forking out so much brass to follow my dreams!
I have been hard at work on this website for a couple of months now and it’s taken a lot of research, effort and time to get to this stage but I feel the time is right and I can’t wait to go live! A huge thanks to Nigel Danson and his Youtube channel for teaching me so much about the art of photography, I highly recommend you check out his website to see one of the best Landscape photographers in the world in my opinion.
So as you can tell, my photography has a long way to go to get to Nigels standard, but it’s not going to stop me trying and of course, putting my own style on a photo.
I do believe this is the start of a long process that will take time to get to the top, but my mind is clear and I feel ready and focused on the task at hand. But your photos are fantastic anyway Dale! I hear you cry! (I hope) yes, and thank you. I am going to carry on taking lovely photos and sharing them on here but also keep learning, and try improving my shots to get to the standard of such photographers as Nigel Danson and Mads Peter Iversen.
Speak soon, and please if you have any feedback about any of my photos or website, get in touch!
www.nigeldanson.com
SH94 - Milford Sound
Te Anau to Milford Sound along the State Highway 94 is one of the most magical, awe inspiring road trips in the world. Here is my take on our trip to the 8th wonder of the natural world.