A Soft River Near Mount Cook
Passport Su…Monday
If you’re a Passport Member then today you’ll get to see a new edit from New Zealand near Mount Cook. It was a pretty simple photo to process but you can see how I used the polarizing filter, which I almost never use. Enjoy!

A Soft River Near Mount Cook
Here’s one of my favorite places to visit while on the way to Mount Cook.
Exclusive content for Passport members
The Tip of Mount Cook
My First NFT Auction – Behind the Scenes
Drop 1 was a wild ride as you can see from the quick video below that shows a few things that happened during the NFT auction. I’m still learning as I go and will share more videos! Drop 2 is now in progress and you can bid here if NFTs are your sort of thing. 🙂
Daily Photo – The Tip of Mount Cook
We were lucky to barely catch the tip of Mount Cook as we were driving down this beautiful road. You never know what the weather conditions are gonna be like down here. It’s about a 4-hour drive from Queenstown, and the weather is often pretty unpredictable, so it’s just a roll of the dice! Can you believe people climb up there to the top? It’s quite dangerous actually… quite a few deaths.
Road Trip to Mount Cook
Mars Rover uses an old iMac processor?
I saw this surprising piece of news about the rover thanks to Stu. I wonder if Apple forces an update every 24 hours… that’s probably why the data returned to earth is so slow.
Daily Photo – Road Trip to Mount Cook
The road to Mount Cook is a great road for sports cars if you are into that sort of thing. My friend Mark, who is really into this stuff, says that the road is perfectly engineered like a race track, so you can really take things to the next level. Not that HE does that or anything… He did tell me a little tip that “his friend” told him… that since it’s a dead-end road, you can go the speed limit from the beginning to the end and then turn back around. If you don’t see any cops, then you can turn around and do it again, going hog-wild!
Hiking Around Mount Cook
Daily Photo – Hiking Around Mount Cook
One cool thing about the Mount Cook area is you can kind of walk anywhere, even though most people stick to the many existing trails. It’s a massive area with little rivers that weave this way and that. I usually put on my headphones, listen to some Hans Zimmer, and rove around for a few hours… besides getting a few photos, it’s both relaxing and invigorating.
On the Way to Aoraki
MDMA Research
I came across this interesting article about MDMA Research. I’m a huge supporter of what MAPS is doing in their Phase 3 trials…pretty sure it’s a game-changer for treating depression, PTSD, and even helping well people have a better life.
Daily Photo – On the Way to Aoraki
About four hours away from my home is Aoraki (Mount Cook), and every drive is completely worth it. This was one of the first times I went in the winter and I was not disappointed. It’s almost impossible to get a bad photo there around there! The place reminds me a lot of Antarctica because it is so remote and raw.
On the Way to Mount Cook
Funny Airline Video
Daily Photo – On the Way to Mount Cook
If you’re up near Mount Cook on the South Island of New Zealand and want a cool reflection shot, here’s a tip! There’s a big lodge there and if you start driving on the roads behind it that seem to go nowhere, eventually you’ll find this water treatment area. I know… I know you expected a lake. And, I suppose, it’s sort of a lake, even if it is man-made. Anyway, because it’s so small, there’s a good likelihood of getting a clean shot.
Reflections on Reflections
Reflection Shots
One good idea for reflection shots is to make sure there is some kind of randomness or lack of symmetry in the bottom half of the photo. Otherwise, it will look like a straight up Photoshop fake-reflection!
Daily Photo – Reflections on Reflections
This place near Mount Cook looks like the perfect idyllic clean lake, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t! A bit more artifice here I suppose… but Stu and I spent the night in our truck right by the waste-water treatment facility! The water was actually quite disgusting, but it was a small enough waste-pond so that the water was nice and still. And, luckily, there was no wind!