doing the tourist thing - Dunedin

Dunedin station

Another great weekend.

Starting in Dunedin.

Not my favourite place so far. i have become accustomed to country ways and empty streets after just 2 weeks in Gore.

Dunedin has traffic lights, traffic and a lot of tourists……..

It felt like Scotland, both architecturally and florally.

There was a piper in the city centre where the cruise ship shuttle buses offload . He was young, and very good on the bagpipes, but wearing football strip, which didn't really work for me.

I like my pipers to wear a kilt.

The floral displays were not to my taste.

I realise that I probably shouldn't say this…..but I really don't like marigolds and salvias.

Call me a snob if you wish.

marigolds

salvias

Even the buildings come in vibrant colours.

red block

Dunedin architecture

park

And even worse than that, it has a Cadbury's World.

Cadbury's World, Dunedin

I popped into the tourist office to ask about hiking ( known as 'tramping' in NZ) trails nearby. Suffice it to say that the map that they found me was insufficient. The tourists here want city tours and boat trips or Cadbury's World. I wanted none of these so took off in my car onto the Otago Peninsula to see what I could find.


I found Sandfly Bay.

Luckily the sandflies were asleep. As were the enormous sea lions. The penguins were out fishing again.

Sandfly Bay. A steep climb down and an even steeper climb up.

The sand dunes were stunning, and due to the wildlife that made the dunes a protected area were untouched by human footprint.

dunes

a happy place to spend an hour or two

Onwards around the coast.

The sea mist came in.

I had a few minutes of bliss watching the mist rolling around.

Sea mist on the Otago peninsula 

Before returning back to the city for food and water.


Saturday.

Farmers market. Checking out the locals.

The market is beside the station. Where better to have breakfast?

breakfast

Tasty treats.

I would like to show you a picture of the man who sold me some sausages…….

But I didn't take one.

He was quite nice……..

The sausages weren't.

For locals, shopping at the farmers market, having coffee and meeting friends was the order of the morning. A relaxed and convivial atmosphere.

Next stop Port Chalmers, to inspect the cruise ships.

Port Chalmers

The cruise ships were BIG.

I got told off for taking photos at the port, so I went up the hill.

Off to another beach, this time north of the city.

Long Bay Beach.

Not a tourist in site. Not a cafe or even an ice cream van.


Bright sun and white sand. Harsh light .

Not conducive to landscape photography. Time for some more long exposures and multiple exposures with my ND10 filter.

Lastly, Hoopers Inlet, which took my breath away.

Reminiscent of Luskentyre in the Hebrides with its shallow waters and total patterns. The only problem was the lush vegetation obscuring the view.

The bright yellows are cockle shells on the exposed estuary bed.

Dunedin turned out to be worth the visit after all.

You just have to get a little way out of town.

Away from the tourists.

low light photography ...........an excuse for a few fuzzy photos using intentional camera movement.

blue grass © caroline fraser

At the end of a lovely sunny weekend at the beach I dragged myself once more up the dunes to the beach to see what the end of the day would bring.

Standing on the dunes as the sun goes down is always a treat, when all the visitors of the day have packed up and gone home.

No bright colours tonight, and no spectacular light. But instead a beautifully subtle mackerel sky.

evening light over the dunes at Camber Sands

The light was too low to take any photos without a tripod, so I indulged in a little intentional camera movement photography. Keeping the iso low I shut down to f22 to create exposures between 2 and 6 seconds. This is photography as I like it; experimental and unpredictable. Focusing on the dunes and then moving the camera up or down towards the end of the exposure I experimented until the light was gone.

shades of grey © caroline fraser

Most of the images had a blue tinge due to the reflections from the sky.  To create a little variety I allowed myself a little artistic licence when processing the images, opting for colours that I felt work best, using  minor curves adjustments.


Hence the three shades of grey above.

dunes © caroline fraser

I got stuck in the dunes until I ran out of light, never making it down onto the beach.

ship on the horizon © caroline fraser

The ship on the horizon sailed on into the night, destination unknown.

I strolled home and ate some cake. 

the art of living dangerously............advice from a Hasselblad master at sunset

Sunset over Camber Sands

Strange things happen when you least expect them.......

Last night after finally finding the sun at Camber Sands and escaping the grey clouds over London, I left dog sleeping quietly and popped out onto the dunes to watch the sunset with my smallest camera.

Other half was busy eating hog roast in Burnham on Crouch, and I was home alone.

As I stood on top of the dunes a man approached in the dusk, wearing a woolly hat. "You'll need a bigger camera than that to capture the sunset" said he. It seems he was a friendly sort, so I responded with a suitably inane comment, and we got chatting. He informed me that he was a photographer. I replied that I was keen as well. He told me he had just bought a house by the dunes and had fallen in love with the place. I explained that my tiny camera was OK for long exposures of waves at dusk, and that I got on just fine with it.

" Are you a professional photographer" he asked.

 "No", I replied

"Are you a psychologist?"  he asked.

"No" I replied. "What makes you says that?"

I was not in a hurry to give my true identity, as it can alter an easy conversation.

"Something about the way you talk", said he....." So what are you?"

It seems the truth would out.

"I am a doctor, but photography is my passion"

Ahh.............  as predicted everything changed, and he started telling me how healthy he was.

"Everyone says I don't look my age". He told me how old he was and I was not in the least surprised. He went on to detail his exercise programme and work schedule, and to tell me a lengthy
saga about a stye in his eye that all started when he went to a chemist and asked for a tube of the antibiotic ointment that defies gravity by expelling the entire contents of the tube when opened. I listened  and then, to my horror, he started taking off his jacket to display his physique as if to give proof.

"I hope you are not going to take any more clothes off" said I slightly nervously, thinking about what my other half would think of this conversation in the dark with no-one else around. Stranger danger was in the back of my mind as he assured me that he wouldn't.

Then I found out that he is a Hasselblad Master.

 If you don't already know, a Hassleblad master is a seriously good photographer. Only 12 people get this accolade each year. His camera cost around £26,000.


We are in completely different photographic leagues, and somehow everything changed again. This time I was in awe, and when he asked to see my pictures I felt totally inadequate and hurriedly showed him a Hipstamatic print from my phone.

Bins at Camber Sands

"Can I give you a tip" says he........... "use the rule of thirds" .................



I mumbled something and quickly showed him another.

Red zone at Camber Sands

"I like that" said he.

I felt relieved, and hurried off home before it got so dark that I couldn't see my way, and before anything more surprising could happen.

I looked him up on the internet and found a seriously professional fashion photographer who has photographed a number of famous individuals including Robbie Williams.

Strange things happen when you least expect them.