Moving Pictures

Living in a fisheye lens

Caught in the camera eye

I have no heart to lie

I can't pretend a stranger

Is a long-awaited friend

- Neil Peart/Rush Limelight

We recently bought a new lens for our camera. I wanted a fancy 14-24mm wide-angle zoom, but a new one is more than we paid for Chumbawamba. In the end, we picked up a used 16-35mm. I've never used a wide-angle lens before, so I spent a ton of time online reading about wide-angle photography and poring over tutorials. My mother was visiting from Canada and we had planned a South Island trip that wouldn't involved any tramping. The lens arrived the day before we left for Christchurch, and I was excited for the opportunity to learn and practice with it.

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu

We arrived into Christchurch Airport, but our bach was 1.5 hours away on Banks Peninsula, so we went into the city for lunch. We parked in front of the Art Gallery and wandered into the city centre from there.

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 28mm, 1/30, f/11, ISO 64 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 17mm, 1/30, f/14, ISO 64 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/20, f/14, ISO 64

Cathedral Square

Cathedral Square was populated by food trucks (Yay!) We ate sitting on benches, then started our city explorations. Many of the older buildings were damaged in the 2010/2011 earthquakes and they stand abandoned and in disrepair to this day.

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/25, f/8, ISO 64

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/40, f/11, ISO 64

 Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 35mm, 1/60, f/8, ISO 64

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 24mm, 1/125, f/8, ISO 64

Wandering the Streets

We only had a couple of hours on the parking metre and we wanted to get out to our bach before nightfall, so our "tour" of Christchurch was necessarily brief. We had planned to come back to the city for a day of exploration but never made it. Looks like we will have to make another trip.

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/125, f/8, ISO 64

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/60, f/8, ISO 64

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 17mm, 1/40, f/5.6, ISO 64

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 35mm, 1/200, f/4, ISO 64

Onuku Road Bach - Banks Peninsula

Good thing we got to the bach in daylight. It was down a steep embankment, perched on a cliff, and completely hidden from the road. The road itself was winding, treacherous, and without guardrails. On the plus side, the quite and solitude were perfect. The night sky was brilliant with stars and we were able to see Orion from the deck. I have never before been able to see and identify his head, club, and shield.

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 17mm, 1/40, f/8, ISO 64

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/2, f/10, ISO 64

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 17mm, 1/10, f/20, ISO 125 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 31mm, 1/50, f/10, ISO 2200 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 35mm, 1/20, f/8, ISO 220

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 22mm, 15s, f/4, ISO 2000

Akaroa Settlement

In 1838, a French captain had made a provisional purchase of land on Banks Peninsula. By the time he made it back to France, recruited settlers, and had them return to New Zealand in 1840, Britain and already signed the Treaty of Waitangi granting sovereignty to the Crown. Nevertheless, the French were allowed to settle and the area retains a French influence to this day. Our green-lipped mussels prepared in the Normandy style at a French bistro were some of the best I have ever tasted.

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 30mm, 1/25, f/11, ISO 100 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 35mm, 1/50, f/8, ISO 64 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/100, f/8, ISO 64 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/25, f/18, ISO 140

Beach Explorations

We explored the local area by car and on foot. The beaches, cliff faces, and waterscapes were dramatic. There are tons of tramping tracks in the area and it only served to whet our appetites for more.

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/80, f/6.3, ISO 64 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 26mm, 1/25, f/22, ISO 220 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/6, f/20, ISO 125 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/8, f/8, ISO 110 

Nikon D810 + 16-35mm f/4 @ 26mm, 2s, f/22, ISO 64 

Nikon D810 + 16-35mm f/4 @ 32mm, 1/8, f11, ISO 125

TranzAlpine Kiwi Rail Scenic Journey

These photos were all taken from a moving train, often at speeds approaching 100 kph. I typically shoot my photos in Manual Mode but turn on the Auto-ISO. I made a rookie mistake ... the previous night, I turned off Auto-ISO and set it at ISO 2000 to take star-shots. The next morning, I forgot to turn Auto-ISO back on! I couldn't figure out why I was having such a hard time until half-way through the train ride when I switched to the zoom lens.

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 18mm, 1/13, f/11, ISO 2000 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 20mm, 1/1000, f/14, ISO 2000

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm, 1/1600, f/8, ISO 2000

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 20mm, 1/1000, f/14, ISO 2000 

Nikon D810 + AF-S 16-35mm f/4 @ 35mm, 1/1000, f/16, ISO 2000

Wandering around Christchurch was an eye-opener. They were struck by a major (7.1 Richter Scale) earthquake in 2010 and a 6.3 aftershock six months later. The damage was extensive and the clean-up/re-build is still ongoing. That will be the subject for another post ... with wide-angle pics to accompany it!

Eyes on Broadway ...