Benetay @ New Zealand South Island

[StanChung]

Wow, I thought you mixed up the set of LOTR with some travel pictures! j/k.

Really love those panoramas. The birdie look great too.

Did you encounter any technical difficulties?

[benetay]

The coldness was alright for DSLR, nothing much just maybe condensation from cool to warm places. Only manage to open shutter for about 1 hour max on 2 fully charge batteries.

Wore 2 gloves to combat the icy cold weather normally at ice/snow areas. Take out one when i'm shooting on the right hand. Prolong exposure to ice/snow will result in cold bites, very painful when your nails start to turn purple.

My lens did get quite heavy banging on such terrain, climate & weather. At lease i know that it will still be functional after going through such ordeals. The worst place would be at the glacier. The ice are hard & unfriendly. Banging the camera around with all the climbing gears. Tried to keep the batteries as warm as possible. Was out there for 9 hours.

Cheers!

[Aquaculture]

Beautiful shots! This is one of my favourite. Took it with a huge 400mm?

[luenny]

I like that photo too. I think it's an albatross. And I don't think you need 400mm to shoot it. Very nice shot.

[Goondoo]

Beautiful shots! This is one of my favourite. Took it with a huge 400mm?

Shot with a 180mm as mentioned in the EXIF
Looks like largely cropped (from the noise level at ISO200).

[benetay]

Yes it was shot with the Canon 180mm macro lens double as a range. Those albatross family birds are flying quite near the boat. It's not easy shooting them when the boat is experiencing choppy waters. Had to lean against structures to keep my foot on the ground. At range of 288mm 1.6x crop sensor, it will be nice having a 300-400mm lens on a FF.

It was shot landscape format, crop the sides off making it into a vertical format.
All shots were in raw & converted to Jpg after processing. It was overcast, had to use high shutter speed to capture the flying bird with a aperture of f/7.1. Noise increases in lower light condition without the use of flash. Easily rectifiable with programs these days but i'm not so picky about it. As long as i'm not printing all my pictures in S8R size.

Luckily the 200+ prints were all alright! Had the last pano printed in SS6R as well & 2 S8R.

Thanks Aquaculture & luenny for the kind words.

Cheers!

[celticfish]

I also want to join the Fellowship!!

btw did you try to taste the raisins?
They have to taste good being "fresh".
Lovely pictures.
I think your pictures got quite a few people planning for a "must do" in this lifetime trip!

[StanChung]

Even in normal weather[ours], I find it a pain to swap lenses that's why I asked.
Condensation just coming out of my room is enough to make me sweat! LOL.
[paid a lot to get lenses cleaned!]

I think 2 bodies are the way to go. Now if only they made the D3/D300 30% lighter and cheaper as well. [wishful thinking]

[kuching]

I like the photos of star trails! Nice!!!

[benetay]

Thanks guys for the kind words, i still do swap my lens here & there. Luckily there isn't much dust around.

Irwin, i didn't get the chance to taste 'fresh' raisin just had desserts with raisin, not too bad i'm not a great taster. As long as it's food, i think they're all pretty alright. Wish i had more time there to take in the nature beauties. The west coast area changes from tropical forest to temperate forest in every bent. It will be nice to visit NZ in your lifetime to take a look at mother nature. Am thinking of a trip next year, still not sure where to go. Too bad i couldn't fork out the cash for a Amazon trip it's too dear. Maybe India?

Stan, I agree, cleaning of lens will cost quite a lot. Basic cleaning of lens $120-$180. Multiply that with the number of lens. So who said photography is cheap? CMOS cleaning, viewfinder cleaning another $50. Don't really dare to take up the lens cleaning service by people or shops doing cleaning. Since already paid the price of a L, might as well bring it back to the original makers for cleaning. No sleepless nights.

Star trails are much easier taken over there, as long as you have a very solid jacket + wind breaker & a sturdy tripod. Both the star trail pictures are taken outside the motel at fox glacier. The winter population there is only 90 so light pollution is kept at bay. Have tried doing it at other places but i guess a clear sky & a very dark place is the best place to shoot.

Cheers!

[Aquaculture]

Yes it was shot with the Canon 180mm macro lens double as a range. Those albatross family birds are flying quite near the boat. It's not easy shooting them when the boat is experiencing choppy waters. Had to lean against structures to keep my foot on the ground. At range of 288mm 1.6x crop sensor, it will be nice having a 300-400mm lens on a FF.

It was shot landscape format, crop the sides off making it into a vertical format.
All shots were in raw & converted to Jpg after processing. It was overcast, had to use high shutter speed to capture the flying bird with a aperture of f/7.1. Noise increases in lower light condition without the use of flash. Easily rectifiable with programs these days but i'm not so picky about it. As long as i'm not printing all my pictures in S8R size.

Luckily the 200+ prints were all alright! Had the last pano printed in SS6R as well & 2 S8R.

Thanks Aquaculture & luenny for the kind words.

Cheers!

Thanks for explaining in detail. Lots of learning for me to do.

[benetay]

We're all learning! Theories are there to learn but it's still good to go out for a shoot.


Cheers!

[benny]

Some very good pictures!! So you did shoot some film as well!! Show me next time!

Cheers,