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

As the forecast front approaches I managed to get a quick stitch in of the iconic lighthouse at the Castlepoint settlement. Not the calm evening light I was hoping for but dramatic in its own right I guess.

Canon 5DII + Carl Zeiss 35-70 + Lee 2 stop Soft ND Grad. 6 Shot Stitch

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

A panorama of the mountain range near Omarama, bordering South Canterbury and Otago. The morning of this day I was stuck in one of the worst blizzards you could imagine. But by the afternoon the weather started to break and gave us enough time to get out of our snowed in cabin and make the drive further south.

Canon 5DII + 70-200 f4 I.S. + Lee 0.6 ND Grad. 8 Shot stitched panorama.

Taken deep in the Waitaki Valley in Southern Canterbury. Beyond the distant range the roads were becoming impassable but on this side the only weather to contend with was the howling southerly gale. I decided to use this to my advantage and let the foreground tussocks behave appropriately.

Canon 5DII + Zeiss ZE21mm + Lee Pro ND 3 Stop + Lee 3 Stop Grad Filter

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

The calm after the storm. Hard to believe just hours prior to this shot I was digging out the vehicle in one of the worst blizzards theyve had in these parts for some time. The gale force winds have put the melt into high-speed mode!

Canon 5DII + Carl Zeiss 35-70 + B+W Circular Polariser + 2 Stop ND Grad Filter

Looking towards the seaward Kaikoura's on New Zealand's east coast.

Canon 5DII + Carl Zeiss ZE21mm + Lee 0.9 ND Grad Filter

The last of the Chilean ash cloud last time round the globe. Apparently its here again but dull cloudy mornings havent given us the opportunities to make the most of the treat. This is taken at Redcliffs near Sumner with Shag Rock in the far distance.

Canon 5DII + Zeiss 35-70mm + Lee 0.9 ND Grad

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