I should spend more time taking photos at The Hills! It’s such a great place and perfect tableau for creating art. There are all sorts of cool sculptures all over the place, and this one is Michael Hill’s son, Mark. He has his studio very close by. Whenever I wander around, I stop by his studio to have a look at his latest creations. He’s a very inspiring guy, like his dad!

Tree at The Hills

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2013-01-14 22:32:09
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/2000
• Aperture8
• ISO100
• Focal Length14.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-2

A few years ago, I went to Australia with Neal Stephenson while he was researching his new book. I’m a great secret keeper, so I can’t talk about it. We had a great time… I actually kept track of a lot of stories of our adventures, but I don’t want to release them until after his book is out! If it wasn’t for Neal, I might have never seen the bustling metropolis of Dubbo, Australia.

The Opera House in Sydney

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-09-29 04:56:44
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/125
• Aperture5.6
• ISO200
• Focal Length250.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

Here’s a photo I recently edited from Sydney Harbor. While this huge rubber ducky was here, I took a ton of different photos. This shot is one of my favorites.

Happy People in Sydney

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2013-01-08 12:36:09
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/30
• Aperture11
• ISO400
• Focal Length18.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias+1

I took this while I was cooking alive in Death Valley, California. It must have been like 130 degrees outside (but quite dry) or something. That’s next level stuff. On another note, I heard there are a lot of hate groups forming in this area, but it’s not that bad because it’s a dry hate.

The Folds of the Earth

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-08-26 12:33:53
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/250
• Aperture5.6
• ISO100
• Focal Length85.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

Thanks again to everyone that came out to the talk at the Downtown New York Marriott! That was a lot of fun… I’m glad the talk resonated with you – at least I think it did! One of my favorite parts is after the event when everyone comes over to say hi. People share the craziest secrets with me! haha… it’s great. I’m a great secret keeper!

Thanks for Coming to the New York Talk!

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-08-14 21:25:59
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time8
• Aperture5.6
• ISO100
• Focal Length18.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

I haven’t been back to the Moeraki boulders in probably for years, but I did recently finish working on this shot. Seeing it reminds that I need to get back over there! It’s only about 2 or 3 hours away from here, and it sounds like another good reason for a road trip!

More of the Moeraki

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-11-27 21:09:13
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/15
• Aperture11
• ISO50
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias+1

It’s the middle of summer now, and you only get this Aurora Australis action down here in the winter months. When people ask me when they should come to New Zealand, I tell them it really doesn’t matter! Every season, especially on the south island is about exactly 3 months long and has a special flavor all of its own. We usually hold our Photo Workshops in the Autumn, because that’s one of my favorite times for photos… but if you want these Auroras, come in the winter.

Stars in New Zealand

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-07-15 11:45:23
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time30
• Aperture2.8
• ISO1600
• Focal Length14.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

This is a shot from here in Queenstown atop Deer Park Heights. We brought one of our workshops up here early one morning to check out the scene. At the time, there was a Korean Prison built, and you can see it over on the left there. It was used for a totally terrible Disney movie and they just kind of left it up there. There’s no way the Department of Conservation would let you get away with that nowadays! I’m pretty sure it’s been destroyed now.

The Korean Prison in the Distance

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2013-02-08 11:32:54
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/250
• Aperture7.1
• ISO100
• Focal Length17.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-2

You might recognize this from a lot of advertisements that Google ran to promote its Chromebook laptops. That caused a minor point of contention, I will tell you, honestly. But I didn’t have any desire to sue Google because I have so many friends there. Besides, the idea to sue a big company is just an invitation for disaster, no matter how genuine and earnest the intention. I mentioned this issue one day when I was talking to Sergey and things were worked out.

Anyway, this is one of the scenes you’ll see if you come out to New Zealand for the workshop! I only do one of these a year, and I have as good of a time as all of you!

Beautiful Queenstown

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2013-02-08 11:45:33
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/200
• Aperture7.1
• ISO100
• Focal Length14.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-1

I’ve made the flight back and forth to Auckland probably 20 times now. It’s a beautiful 1.5 hour flight where you get to sail across the top of New Zealand. About half of the way, you only see ocean, but it can make for some amazing clouds as they form on the coast. We get a warm wet wind that blows in from Australia across the Tasman Sea. When it collides with the NZ coastline, you get all kinds of fancy clouds like this.

Flying Into Auckland

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-08-13 03:01:09
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/125
• Aperture5.3
• ISO800
• Focal Length98.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias+1