Jagged Shores of the Wakatipu

Sometimes missing the best light in the evening yields interesting results… This photo was taken just a few minutes too late, as it took us a while to get down to this beach and get setup on terrain that was, shall we say, painful to walk on.

Until my friend Matt took me to this beach, I had no idea it existed! A rather elusive location, it’s in an area that I’ve never had reason to visit… Almost as if my mind had skipped over this specific stretch of shore, even though I had driven past by car and by boat many times. Clearly however, it’s a rather stunning place. The shore of Lake Wakatipu sees a lot of variation along its 80 kilometer length. There are many pristine beaches, and up until now that had been my general description of it’s shores… This jagged scene changed that. I was surprised to see so many massive exposed boulders, giving the waterline a very ‘costal’ look and feel.

When we arrived, the best of the light had well and truly disappeared. Although a little disheartened, I decided to set up for an HDR and capture the rough water driving its way up the beach. Whenever I shoot an HDR to capture motion, I always aim to have the +2 (or +3) exposure land right on the 30 second mark. I love the smokey appearance that water takes on under the effect of a long exposure, and getting this effect looking good without too much post processing manipulation is always tricky!

In this case I think it works well… This is the only HDR I got that night, with the rest of the evening dedicated to showing Matt the ropes of astrophotography. The decision to go black and white was one of much deliberation, but I felt that what little color there was to be seen in the landscape was a little distracting for the eye.

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