Nuggets
After leaving Milford Sound with a heavy heart, we continued our journey south to our next destination: one of New Zealand's oldest lighthouses, the Nugget Point Lighthouse. We first drove to the campsite at Kaka Point to make sure we could spend the night there before continuing on to the lighthouse for sunset, but apart from a cat, we didn't find a single person on the campsite. However, there was a notice in the main room that you can pay in cash by dropping the fee in a designated box. After doing so, we drove on to the Nugget Point lighthouse, hoping for a nice sunset, and stood right next to the path that served as a nice leading line. Judging by all the pictures we've seen, people really seem to climb up the hillside and risk their lives just to reach a slightly higher vantage point, but we stayed right next to the fence, set up our tripods and chatted with two friendly pals who were waiting right next to us for some color in the sky. All the pictures we took that evening turned out ok-ish, and as it soon got very dark, we went back to the campsite, had dinner, stroked the stray cat that was still there, and fell asleep a little dissatisfied.
As we had to leave the next day, we returned to the lighthouse for sunrise, but found that it was shrouded in a thick layer of fog. Half an hour later, a rather entertaining group of Singaporeans arrived, and a little later a local set up his tripod right next to us. After a while we got talking and the local mentioned that he had been here many times and if the fog hasn't lifted an hour after sunrise, there's a good chance it won't soon. So he left, and shortly afterwards the group of Singaporeans, with whom we had a really nice chat, also decided to leave, as they had to reach Milford Sound that day. At some point we also lost patience and returned to the car to get something to eat, but we couldn't get the lighthouse out of our minds and so we returned to it one last time. Finally, the fog seemed to lift just slightly, just enough to reveal the lighthouse, but it was still too thick. Again we waited and waited, and after a while we decided to go to the lighthouse viewing platform to check the view onto the sea stacks. These too were barely visible, but I realized that I should have brought my tripod just in case the fog lifted and I wanted to take longer exposures.
Since it was well after sunrise, I figured I'd better run back to the car to get our tripods, and when I got back to the viewpoint, the light was burning through the fog, revealing the beautiful arrangement of sea stacks. It all happened very quickly, and the few images I had taken before this one looked dull and lacked interesting light, while the images I took afterwards revealed the horizon and lacked mood. Once again it goes to show that patience is everything in landscape photography and that sometimes you have to be very fast when the conditions all come together. I hope you like it as much as I do! :)
PS: This place was named by Captain Cook because the sea stacks looked like pieces of golden nuggets to him.
Nuggets
After leaving Milford Sound with a heavy heart, we continued our journey south to our next destination: one of New Zealand's oldest lighthouses, the Nugget Point Lighthouse. We first drove to the campsite at Kaka Point to make sure we could spend the night there before continuing on to the lighthouse for sunset, but apart from a cat, we didn't find a single person on the campsite. However, there was a notice in the main room that you can pay in cash by dropping the fee in a designated box. After doing so, we drove on to the Nugget Point lighthouse, hoping for a nice sunset, and stood right next to the path that served as a nice leading line. Judging by all the pictures we've seen, people really seem to climb up the hillside and risk their lives just to reach a slightly higher vantage point, but we stayed right next to the fence, set up our tripods and chatted with two friendly pals who were waiting right next to us for some color in the sky. All the pictures we took that evening turned out ok-ish, and as it soon got very dark, we went back to the campsite, had dinner, stroked the stray cat that was still there, and fell asleep a little dissatisfied.
As we had to leave the next day, we returned to the lighthouse for sunrise, but found that it was shrouded in a thick layer of fog. Half an hour later, a rather entertaining group of Singaporeans arrived, and a little later a local set up his tripod right next to us. After a while we got talking and the local mentioned that he had been here many times and if the fog hasn't lifted an hour after sunrise, there's a good chance it won't soon. So he left, and shortly afterwards the group of Singaporeans, with whom we had a really nice chat, also decided to leave, as they had to reach Milford Sound that day. At some point we also lost patience and returned to the car to get something to eat, but we couldn't get the lighthouse out of our minds and so we returned to it one last time. Finally, the fog seemed to lift just slightly, just enough to reveal the lighthouse, but it was still too thick. Again we waited and waited, and after a while we decided to go to the lighthouse viewing platform to check the view onto the sea stacks. These too were barely visible, but I realized that I should have brought my tripod just in case the fog lifted and I wanted to take longer exposures.
Since it was well after sunrise, I figured I'd better run back to the car to get our tripods, and when I got back to the viewpoint, the light was burning through the fog, revealing the beautiful arrangement of sea stacks. It all happened very quickly, and the few images I had taken before this one looked dull and lacked interesting light, while the images I took afterwards revealed the horizon and lacked mood. Once again it goes to show that patience is everything in landscape photography and that sometimes you have to be very fast when the conditions all come together. I hope you like it as much as I do! :)
PS: This place was named by Captain Cook because the sea stacks looked like pieces of golden nuggets to him.