Memory Lane

Here is a photo of Trey Ratcliff and Danny Levin that I took about five years ago. Danny and I were on one of Trey's New Zealand photo adventures. That seems like such a long time ago, but I still have a ton of photos and memories. I shot this on the original Sony A7R which was relatively new at the time. Now, I'm on the third generation of that camera, but I still own the original. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Actually, I processed this with the latest tools. In this case I Aurora HDR 2019 and Luminar 3. Those are also the third generations from Skylum, and I've been using them for three or four years now. Every time they come out with new versions I go back and find old photos like this to process. When I do that, it's like taking a trip down memory lane.

Old Queenstown Bridge

This is the bridge where Lake Wakatipu ends and enters the Kawarau River. Or, at least it was. Since I took this, they built a new bridge that's not nearly as photogenic. I took this on my first day in New Zealand as I was walking around getting the lay of the land. The bridge was next to the hotel. I must say, that trip was probably the most fun I've ever had. It was a photography workshop with Trey Ratcliff, and it was a doozy. Everything, from the scenery to the food was over the top. I've been looking at some of the photos I took while there and am post-processing them with the newer software. At the time I was using the A7R which was relatively new at the time and, the choice of lenses was limited. That was two generations of A7R ago, and the RAW files are holding up quite nicely. But boy, what I could do now with the newer camera. Without a doubt, I very much want to go back.

Queenstown Sunrise

Nearly five years ago I flew to Queenstown New Zealand to participate in a workshop with Trey Ratcliff. Due to jetlag, I woke up on the first morning at an ungodly hour. But after a couple of hours walking around the hotel, dawn began, and we had the most amazing pink sky. It was an excellent start to a week of photography. I've had this in my backlog for a very long time. The biggest challenge was that the sky was so red and orange that it did not seem real. In the original RAW images, it looks like I photoshopped the colors. To make it seem a little more realistic, I've desaturated the glow. Usually, it's the other way around; I might saturate or add vibrancy to give a photo a little extra pop. Not this time. In the grand scale of things, five years is not a long time, but for me, it feels like a lifetime. It was a life-altering trip; it moved me in ways I can't even begin to describe. I had such a fantastic time that it almost didn't seem real. Life is rarely perfect, but that week came about as close as I've ever known. And it all started on the morning of this sunrise and continued building from there.

Old Photos New Software

This is an HDR image of the fall colors that I took four years ago in New Zealand. It was the first morning of a five-day workshop with Trey Ratcliff. In the southern hemisphere, April is in Autumn, so the leaves were turning. I had recently purchased the Sony A7R and now, four years later, I’m still impressed with the images. Since that time Sony has created two new generations of that camera so I now use the third generation A7R III. Also, since that time Trey and Skylum introduced HDR software known as Aurora HDR. Now Aurora is in its second or third generation as well. As a result, I’m revisiting these old photos with the new software. The software has improved to the point that it’s very easy to make old photos look amazing. Four years seems like such a long time, I would go back in a heartbeat. For a photographer, New Zealand is a dream. But I did take thousands of photos while I was there so even if I don’t get back right away I still have these photos to look at and enjoy.

Outside of My Comfort Zone

At the time I took this shot I was way outside of my comfort zone. This is a shot I took just before landing on a mountaintop in sub-zero temperatures while in New Zealand. In this case the scale is difficult to convey because there is nothing to use for reference. However the copter landed on the icy plateau on the upper left and it would look like a small toy if we could see it here. I remember this stop in particular because I walked a little ways down that slope on the left. It was nothing but ice and the incline increased with each step as it dropped into the abyss. I realized that just in time and froze in my tracks then took several steps backward until my footing was sure and the panic subsided. We landed in spots that were pretty much inaccessible save for experienced climbers. As it turns out our pilot was a mountain climber and used his knowledge of the area to choose our landings. In fact, he had been up in the area on foot a short while before. Some of the peaks seemed to me nearly impossible to reach and I was always looking for a route down should we get stranded. In places like this I’m not sure what options there would have been. Despite the extreme landings I was so occupied with capturing landscape images that I had no time to be afraid. It’s only on reflection from the comfort of my home that thoughts of potential danger return. Certainly I had the same thoughts on that day as well, but they were crowded out by the task at hand and the rare opportunity to capture these images. In reality the pilot was super competent and never put us in any real danger. Lucky for me he was well within his own comfort zone.

Slopes of Mount Bonpland

This is another image I took from the slopes of Mount Bonpland in New Zealand. This location is above the northern tip of Lake Wakatipu. It was one of the last stops before heading back to the airport. We started early with subzero temps high up on the peaks and as the morning progressed and we headed to lower elevations we were peeling off the layers. We made so many stops I can hardly remember them all save for the photos. The excursion was based on engine time so on some stops we’d jump out while the pilot kept the engine running, this was one such stop as the pilot was still at the controls up on the right. At other stops he’d cut the engine so that we had a little more time to explore and compose shots. How I know where I was seemed nothing short of a happy miracle. I have an app on my iPhone called “gps4cam” that tracks GPS coordinates and then syncs them up with the photos using the image timestamp. I say it was a happy miracle because I wasn’t sure if it worked out of cell tower range. It does indeed because it uses the GPS receiver in the phone. So I ended up with exact locations of all our landings. That’s invaluable especially when I’m in areas I’ve never been before and want to review it later. About three hours after leaving we returned to the airport. I’d taken about fifteen hundred images and seen many things I never imagined. The next time I go back I’d like to do something similar; it’s hard to imaging a better opportunity for a landscape photographer. Now if I could just manage to get back to New Zealand sometime soon.

Bucket List

Every now and then I like going back to look at my images from New Zealand. I was there a little over three years ago but it now seems like an eternity. But having those images brings back some of that magic. I find myself using the word “magic” a lot when describing the southern island of New Zealand. There is something about it that evokes a sense of wonder. You should put it on your bucket list, especially if you like natural beauty. This is one of the many helicopter landings I made on the last day. I spent the morning shooting images of the Southern Alps and then flew home that afternoon. I’m standing next to the oddly named Lake Unknown, which is on the southern slopes of Poseidon Peak. The mist on the left is from a light rain shower on the far side of the lake. In these mountains there are microclimates that vary from blizzards to light rain to sunshine. As we approached from the north we could see a rainbow through the shower, it was surreal; that’s another word I use to describe New Zealand. The last time I was in the mountains was on a cruise to Alaska. I think there are two types of people, mountain people and ocean people. In Alaska you can be both at the same time if you live by the coast. Even though I live by the ocean in Florida I think of myself as a mountain person. I enjoy both but I need to see the mountains once in a while to keep sane. While I was in New Zealand I got a large dosage of rugged mountains took thousands of photos. Now, if I go too long without seeing the mountains I can look at the photos and remember what it was like. And then I start to wonder if I might redo one item on my bucket list. That’s allowed isn’t it?

Mount Alfred from Kinloch

This is a view of Mount Alfred from up the side of another mountain in Kinloch, Otago. The type of wide angle lens I'm using makes Mount Alfred appear far off and small, but in reality it is quite a bit larger. I got here by helicopter and was just one of a dozen spots chosen by our pilot from Over The Top - The Helicopter Company in Queenstown, New Zealand. It's been a while since I looked at my New Zealand photos. However I've recently been playing with a new tool for processing images called AuroraHDR 2017. That prompted me to go back and get some older photos and see what I could do. I'm pleasantly surprised with the results. In this case I processed one RAW image rather than three combined. It works well either way and normally I'll combine two or three for a true HDR image. On this excursion we started off around seven in the morning and the temperature was downright cold, it was below freezing. On top of that we flew above the mountains with the doors off. The combination of layers and adrenalin kept me warm until the sun rose. Within a few hours we were on this mountain side and the weather had warmed up considerably, most of the heavy layers were peeled off, yet the adrenaline was still flowing due to the amazing vistas and sights. Processing an old image with new software is a good way to go back in time and reminisce an awesome day.

Sense of Direction

This is from my trip to New Zealand a couple of years ago where I participated in a photography workshop. After all of the time that's gone by I still have a lot of photos in my backlog to process. Here we were standing on a hill one afternoon overlooking Queenstown. That trip went by so fast I'm glad I have photos to re-live it in little increments later. Whenever I go somewhere new it can be a little disorienting. By that I mean I'm never to sure which way is north south east or west. I remember having that feeling when I was here and struggling to sort it out in my mind. I love going back to Google Maps or Google Earth to look at places I've been and get a proper sense of direction and location. It's helps me to integrate the experience after the fact. For instance, with this shot I keep expecting to see the river, but it's to my back as I was facing south. When we headed to Glenorchy, I thought we were driving south but it's actually north. And if all that isn't enough, on the last day I took a helicopter through the southern alps during which I had zero sense of whereabouts. Thankfully I was geotagging my photos, so now years later I can go back and begin to piece the locations together into some kind map of the journey. Perhaps the sense of not knowing where we are in a new land adds to the sense wonder and excitement. I think perhaps, there might be something to that.

Queenstown Reboot

This is an image I took on my first day in New Zealand about two years ago. As you can see from the colors it was autumn in the southern hemisphere. If I recall I was so happy to see all the fall colors that I quickly processed the photo and posted it a few hours later. Now when I look back on the image (http://www.justenoughfocus.com/autumn-new-zealand/) I realize my tastes have changed. That's a nice way of saying the other picture makes my eyes bleed. The colors of the original are amped up quite a bit and appear too bright and unrealistic. And so as I was looking at some of my old photos the other day and I thought to myself, why don't I reprocess this? Since I have the original RAW files I did, only his time I used different tools and techniques I've acquired over the years. This is a three image HDR that I originally combined in Photomatix Pro, this time in AuroraHDR Pro. Last time I wanted the colors to blast so I oversaturated them, this time I wanted it to be a little more realistic. I think both versions have their pros and cons, (I'm being kind again). The old image looks pretty good as a thumbnail or on a phone, this one looks better on a large screen or print. Each image has its place, but as I continue to evolve as a photographer and artist my taste change and so do my techniques. This is just another example of that. I plan on reprocessing a few more from that trip, stay tuned.

Gardens Sunrise

A couple of years ago in New Zealand I was here for a Queenstown Gardens sunrise. It's an oasis of nature in the middle of the city, except for one thing. The city is an oasis in the middle of the wilderness. If that sounded like a contradiction it is. Queenstown doesn't need an oasis, it's already surrounded by beauty and awesomeness on all sides. This park is just the cherry on top. I was here on one of Trey Ratcliff's photo adventures. This was our first day. There were about twenty of us and I really didn't know anyone except one other guy I met on G+. So here we all were on our first morning doing our best to capture the light and such. Now fast forward to the end of the week. Now we are all best friends and feel like we've just been through the most amazing experiences together. Big change from beginning to end. I've had this image in my backlog for almost two years. I tried a few times to process it but wasn't pleased with the results. This time I have some new software called AuroraHDR made by MacPhun and the very same Trey Ratcliff. Now, what was once a challenge has become easy. For HDR images like this, I find it much easier to get the results I want. I guess the moral of the story is, the longer you wait, the better the software gets, the more you can do. That sounded kind of lame, but you know what I mean.

End of Lake Wakatipu

This is the end of Lake Wakatipu in Glenorchy. I was here a couple of years ago on a Trey Ratcliff photo adventure. I had just switched from Nikon to Sony and so was still struggling with the placement of the buttons and menus. Sometimes I go back and look at my settings and wonder what I was thinking, like this one, my aperture was f10; seems a little high. Maybe I should just forget about all that and just enjoy the scenery. Do me a favor and ignore the exposure settings. Actually, I was going back to look at my New Zealand photos and found this sitting in the bit bucket. I started working on its just out of curiosity and then got carried away. All the while I was thinking I'd seen this before. Sure enough, I'd processed and posted this same picture about a year-and-a-half ago. My techniques and eye are constantly changing and this time the result was different. So maybe I should have titled it Glenorchy Part 2, ...or some such thing. Boy, if I could go back in time and make different choices. Well, just a few. Like buying XYZ stock when it was a dollar. Until I invent a time machine I'll just have to live in the present, learn from the past, place one foot in front of the other. Actually, I'm kind of glad I can't go back, it seems the longer I live the less confused things are. So going back and buying that stock might just put me back into a place I don't want to be. Hmmmm, ... tis a bit of a conundrum.

Standing On a Hill In New Zealand

A couple of years ago I was standing on a hill in New Zealand with twenty other photographers. It was early in the morning before dawn and everything was quiet, still and overwhelmingly beautiful. I had to pinched myself to ensure it wasn't a dream. Well, I made that last part up, my fingers were to cold to pinch anything, but I was pretty happy nonetheless. 
 Its great I have this image because it helps me remember. I wonder what it wold be like if I could remember everything with vivid clarity. I think it would be a double edged sword. Truth be told I'd, only I'd only want to remember the good things, but if I had that memory I might not have a choice. Maybe that's why we are the way we are. Our memories fade so we have a chance to move on, start new, live another day. 
 I've heard that when we die we have a life review. That we see everything we've done that affects other people. If that's true, then that will be one heck of a memory machine. Or, maybe that's how we remember when we don't have our aging brains getting in the way. Maybe our minds are really that good, it's an incredible idea. I think it's true, we have hints of it throughout our lives and society.


Now if I could only learn how to tap in to my unlimited memory, I could tell you what I had for dinner last night and, I could remember my e-mail password. I had one more point to make but I seem to have forgotten what it was. 
 I've heard that when we die we have a life review. That we see everything we've done that affects other people. If that's true, then that will be one heck of a memory machine. Or, maybe that's how we remember when we don't have our aging brains getting in the way. Maybe our minds are really that powerful, it's an amazing idea. I think it could be true, we have hints of it throughout our lives and society.


Now if I could only learn how to tap in to my unlimited memory, I could tell you what I had for dinner last night and remember my email password. I had one more point to make but I seem to have forgotten what it was.

Queenstown Gardens

This was taken inside Queenstown Gardens which is situated right in the middle of Queenstown. It kind of like Central Park for Queenstown, yet even as I write that I know it's not a good analogy. Surrounded by mountains, Queenstown has nothing in common with New York City. Maybe a better analogy would be Stanley Park in Vancouver, yes, I think so. Only Queenstown is not as commercial as Vancouver and is many times smaller. So if Vancouver were one-tenth its size then the comparison might be truer; so much for analogies. I came here with a group of photographers on the first day of a workshop with Trey Ratcliff. We arrived before dawn along the shores of Lake Wakatipu. We then walked and took photos for several miles, ending up here still quite early in the morning. The shadows were long in the morning sun and the clouds were puffy; all elements to consider in composition, which was one of the themes of the workshop. As compositions go, this is so-so, not one of my best. Even so, looking at this now brings back fond memories of the chilly autumn morning. After about an hour here we loaded onto a bus and headed for a well-deserved breakfast at a hotel overlooking the lake. After almost two years, I still believe that New Zealand has some of the most scenic landscapes on the planet. I also think they make a pretty good breakfast. So if you can put those two concepts together, that amount sums up my first morning.

Remarkable Mountains

This is the Remarkable Mountains as viewed from Kelvin Heights above Queenstown New Zealand. Kelvin Heights is the name I get when I Google it, however the locals call it Deer Park Heights. There is some kind of family dispute over this land, maybe that has something to do with the names, but I digress. I posted this image about a year and a half ago without the clouds but I thought I'd update the image because I prefer clouds in the sky. That morning the sky was rather dull, it was just after sunrise and it had snowed the day before. So, as I do with many of my images, I made it look a little different, the way I wished it had looked. Its like doodling with an image to see what works. For me this is better than the original. At the time I was in New Zealand on a workshop with Trey Ratcliff and I was just beginning to learn how to work with new tools for this kind of thing. I made many friends there as we all practiced composition and post processing with beautiful landscapes like this from all around Queenstown. Since then I've learned quite a lot and have developed a preference for a more imaginative style that at times is not at all realistic. If you've followed my work you know what I mean. I'm more into creating images from my minds eye, using photography as a tool. So, having gone back to this image I think I like it better than the first version which was more true to life. You may not agree, but that's okay, on any given day I might just change my mind and agree with you.

Shore of Lake Hayes

Near Queenstown New Zealand is Lake Hayes which has homes and cottages around its perimeter. Most had kayaks or rowboats laying along the shore. As you can see I was here in the autumn when the leaves were changing and carpeting the ground. Off in the distance to the South is the Remarkables, a mountain range that had already started collecting snow. We were here midday and it was fairly warm without much of a breeze, thus providing a glassy surface to the lake. These still waters are more common first thing in the morning, but in this case we had a rare occurrence in the afternoon.

Skippers Canyon Path

For some reason I never got around to posting this photo from New Zealand over a year ago. This was taken on a narrow road with switchbacks above vertical drops into a canyon. It's one of the most dangerous roads in the world, and even walking can be a little harrowing if you're not paying attention. Case in point, I walked off the road on to this little trail to the right and at the far end slipped on some grass with vertical drops either side. I simply fell on my butt rather than down the cliff so I guess my number wasn't up yet. There was also a mountain bike trail running down the opposite side of the canyon. It looked pretty extreme from our vantage and given my track record I'm probably better off walking than riding a bike, then again maybe not.

Arrowtown Afternoon

The little village of Arrowtown New Zealand in the autumn. There were so many warm colors all around that it seems like they all ran together. Perhaps they did as they imprinted in my brain a most fond memory.

Sunrise at Deer Park Heights

I took this back over a year ago in New Zealand. It was pretty frosty before the sun came up and so when it did we all started peeling off the layers. Nevertheless, getting here early was epic and this moment as the sun rose over the Remarkable mountain range epitomized the natural beauty of the area. Now, I just have to figure out when I'm going back.

Queenstown River Dock

On a rainy day I walked around the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown. This was in Autumn so the leaves were changing. At the higher elevation it was snowing and this location is at the foot of the Remarkables mountain range. So while it rained here, at higher elevations it snowed such that as the clouds cleared we were treated to pristine snow capped mountains. All in all it was a beautiful introduction to a beautiful country.

New Zealand Alps

About a year ago I was in a helicopter over the alps of southern New Zealand. It's been awhile since I posted a photo from there and so it's time to reminisce the adventure. The alps are nothing short of amazing as you can see. And somewhere up there are surely a few wizards or elfs; such as it is in middle earth.

Under the Tree

Two children playing under a well known tree along the shore of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, New Zealand. Actually, I don't know if the tree is well known, but its my story so I'm sticking with it. I also imagine the tree is quite happy having children play under it and climb its branches. One of those things I can only imagine but never really know for sure.