About 20 minutes after sunset on a balmy spring evening. What looked like a pleasant sunset transformed into something quite unreal. I was cursing about the sunset that I missed the night before. But the sequel was certainly pretty in its own right 

Canon 5DII + Carl Zeiss 35-70 + Lee 2 stop hard ND grad + Lee 3 stop Pro ND

A moody night at Castlepoint in the Wairarapa. With rain imminent I set the camera up for a long exposure for something a little less typical of the lighthouse. As it got darker and darker I kept adding more time, until after my best guess I closed the shutter after 12 minutes. Quite an ethereal effect.

Canon 5DII + Zeiss ZE 21mm Distagon + Lee Big Stopper

Castlepoint on the east coast of the North Island. What a spectacular spot! The weather gods werent too kind but the sky exploded for literally half a minute. Enough time for a quick stitch up of the iconic lighthouse from the main beach.

Canon 5DII + 70-200 f4 I.S. + Lee 0.6 ND Grad, 6 shot stitch

I was sunset shooting at the Kaikoura Peninsular when the gulls that were gracing my foreground got spooked. Quite an eerie effect as they made a run for it.

Canon 5DII + Carl Zeiss ZE 21mm + Lee 0.9 ND Grad Filter + Lee 0.9 Pro ND Filter

Kaiteriteri Beach at the top of New Zealand's, South Island. A very popular retreat in the summer months, but in the middle of winter we were the only ones there. I used a 10 stop ND filter to give me a very long exposure. The idea was to try and add some interest to the moving clouds. This is the resulting 8 minute exposure!

Canon 5DII, Carl Zeiss ZE 21mm + Lee Big Stopper + 3 stop hard ND Filter

Due to the recent eruption of CordonCaulle volcano in Southern Chile, ash clouds have been pushed around the globe and are now affecting our skies. You can see the streaks through the sky. The particles are causing some unreal colours both at dusk and dawn. Im not sure if the full value can be seen with screen colours but its quite spectacular. This was down at the Redcliffs shoreline just outside of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Canon 5DII + Carl Zeiss 35-70mm + Lee ND Grad 0.6 filter

A very brief splash of colour this morning before the cloud became all to much for it. This is taken at Redcliffs, a coastal suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. I managed to attract quite a possie of weekend photographers by this point!

Canon 5dII + Carl Zeiss 35-70 3.4 + Lee 0.9 Soft ND Grad

Cave Rock in Sumner near Christchurch. The sea has been boiling over the last few days so I hoped for a great sunrise to top it all off. Not quite there but still a shot I like for the dramatic waves. Our distinct lack of winter certainly helps the morning patrols..

Canon 5DII + Carl Zeiss Distagon 21mm + 3 Stop Lee Graduated ND filter

A crisp winters morning turned into a beautiful dawn. It didnt explode quite as I  hoped, but the eary start was still well worth the effort. Even though a strong earthquake ("aftershock") shook the ground beneath me during the session crashing boulders down behind me. I love the way the strong overhead winds have created the sky effect. Now, time to explore the North Island....

Canon 5DII + Carl Zeiss ZE 21mm lens + 2 stop Lee Grad ND filter

Dawn breaking over the Christchurch coastline. Amazing fog prevailed at first light but unfortunately the friendly fog left as quickly as it came. Still.. another beautiful autumn dawn where the usual temperatures for this time of year are continuing to escaping us....

Canon 5DII + Zeiss Distagon ZE 21mm , Lee 3 stop hard grad filter