Queenstown – Stuck in Customs
6
May 2019 : Monday
filed under  Camera Gear, DJI Phantom, New Zealand, Quadcopters, Queenstown, Travel

A Moody Storm in Queenstown

Longest Wait on a Tesla Ever?

I got an order confirmation for my Tesla Model 3 on Apr 2, 2016 at 9:55 AM. It’s now three years later, at least here in New Zealand… Thank goodness I’m a patient, zen dude that practices meditation. Maybe I’ll pick it up when I come over for Burning Man and get it on a boat back here.

Daily Photo – A Moody Storm in Queenstown

One of my favorite things about having a quadcopter is that I can very quickly get a photo when the light gets interesting! This is the view from where I live here in Queenstown, and every night has a new set of light and clouds. I keep the quadcopter fully fueled and ready for action, just in case something like this presents itself!

A Moody Storm in Queenstown

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-11-27 21:17:04
  • CameraFC6310
  • Camera MakeDJI
  • Exposure Time1/30
  • Aperture2.8
  • ISO160
  • Focal Length8.8 mm
  • FlashNo flash function
  • Exposure ProgramProgram AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
23
Mar 2019 : Saturday
filed under  Camera Gear, Hasselblad H5D, New Zealand, Queenstown, Travel

First Shot with the Hasselblad H5D

Grammarly

I recommend getting this plugin for your browser! It’s saved me from making a ton of errors. I noticed recently that if you are trying to use it in Google Docs, I had to re-install it to get a popup and ask me if I wanted to join the beta test for checking Google Docs. My new book is over 360 pages, so it’s really melting down their servers!

Daily Photo – First Shot with the Hasselblad H5D

This is not a new photo, but it’s one I took about two or three years ago as soon as I got that Hasselblad. Nice, eh? I was still trying to figure out the camera, as the behavior was quite a bit different than my Sony. So I spent a day traveling around the South Island here in New Zealand to try using the camera in a lot of different conditions. I took this over near Jack’s Point in Queenstown.

First Shot with the Hasselblad H5D

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2015-12-21 01:19:48
  • CameraH5D
  • Camera MakeHasselblad
  • Exposure Time1/100
  • Aperture16
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length42.0 mm
  • Flash
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
13
Feb 2019 : Wednesday
filed under  Arrowtown, DJI Phantom, New Zealand, Quadcopters, Queenstown, Travel

Attack of the Wolves at the Hills

This week I’m bringing you another great free video from Africa! By the way, there are just a few slots left for our upcoming Africa Photo Adventure, so be sure to come to have a look at the amazing trip we have in store for you!

In this video I’ll be hanging out of a helicopter and then getting into some layer fun in Photoshop.

Daily Photo – Attack of the Wolves at the Hills

Here’s a fun little vertirama of The Wolves at The Hills here in Arrowtown, New Zealand. I believe this was taken with two vertically stacked shots with the quadcopter. I think it’s nice how just getting 10 meters off the ground gives a slightly different perspective. The top-down is not nearly as good as I thought it would be, because you can’t tell that these are wolves vortexing in on a samurai.

Attack of the Wolves at the Hills

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2018-02-23 10:14:51
  • CameraFC220
  • Camera MakeDJI
  • Exposure Time1/2500
  • Aperture2.2
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length4.7 mm
  • FlashNo flash function
  • Exposure ProgramProgram AE
  • Exposure Bias-1

Comments
30
Jan 2019 : Wednesday
filed under  Camera Gear, New Zealand, Nikon D800, Queenstown, Travel, Workshops

The Korean Prison in the Distance

Becoming an Artist, Episode 5

Welcome to the fifth week of the new year and the fifth episode of the show!

Daily Photo – The Korean Prison in the Distance

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

  • 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

Comments
6
Jan 2019 : Sunday
filed under  Aurora HDR, Florida, Glenorchy, Lake Wakatipu, mavic 2 zoom, New Zealand, Nikon D3X, Passport, Quadcopters, Queenstown, Travel, United States of America

The Shuttle at Rest

Part 2 for Passport Sunday

The creation of this photo took many steps, so I decided to split the process into two videos across two Sundays for Passport Members. So, today, we get to see the resolution to our exciting cliffhanger!

A Panorama of the Road from Glenorchy to Queenstown

Part 2 of the Mavic 2 Zoom Panorama

Here is a Link to Part 1 of this video from last Sunday if you did not see it. In this one, you’ll see how I put the finishing touches on this challenging pano with Aurora HDR.

Exclusive content for Passport members

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Daily Photo – The Shuttle at Rest

This is actually another panorama, but it was a little easier to put together. I was lucky enough to go out and get really close to the space shuttle on the day before the big launch. I was so excited… just a like a little kid! I still get excited thinking about it.

The Shuttle at Rest

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2011-07-07 18:42:32
  • CameraNIKON D3X
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/15
  • Aperture6.7
  • ISO200
  • Focal Length300.0 mm
  • FlashNo Flash
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
2
Jan 2019 : Wednesday
filed under  Arrowtown, Burning Man, Music, New Zealand, Otago, Queenstown, Sony NEX-7, Spotify

Crossing the Range

Spotify Playlist Fun

Here is a new playlist of mine on Spotify for you to enjoy. It’s made up of songs that I listen to on a lazy, relaxing afternoon at Burning Man.

Daily Photo – Crossing the Range

There is a beautiful road that connects Wanaka and Queenstown that is locally known as the Crown Range. It’s the highest highway in all of New Zealand as it crosses the Southern Alps. There are plenty of places to pull off the side of the road and get a view of the valley down below. I live down in there somewhere… kinda over on the right side of the photo.

Crossing the Range

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2013-10-31 07:19:47
  • CameraNEX-7
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time0.3
  • Aperture16
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length10.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias+1

Comments
30
Dec 2018 : Sunday
filed under  Glenorchy, Lake Wakatipu, Luminar, Mavic Pro 2, New Zealand, Passport, Quadcopters, Queenstown, Skylum

Editing a Massive Panorama

Passport Sunday!

If you’re a Passport member, today you’ll see how I’ve changed the way I stitch together my panoramas, especially for these shots that are made from the drone.

Editing a MASSIVE Panorama

Creating this photo took quite a while, so I decided to split it up into two videos! In this first one, you’ll see how I prep the photos before I make the panorama and then the final stitching process. In the next video (next Sunday), I’ll show how I use Aurora HDR for the final touches.

Exclusive content for Passport members

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Daily Photo – A Huge Panorama of the road from Glenorchy to Queenstown

It was a perfect day a few weeks ago on the drive back, so I got the new Mavic 2 Zoom up in the air to take this panorama. It’s kind of annoying, in a way, that when the Mavic zooms into the sky, it doesn’t do any exposure adjustment. That always requires a little bit of cleanup.

A Huge Panorama of the road from Glenorchy to Queenstown

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2018-12-01 15:47:22
  • CameraFC2204
  • Camera MakeDJI
  • Exposure Time1/640
  • Aperture3.8
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length8.6 mm
  • FlashNo Flash
  • Exposure ProgramProgram AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
22
Dec 2018 : Saturday
filed under  Arrowtown, Lake Wakatipu, Mavic Pro, New Zealand, Otago, Queenstown

Panorama of Lake Wakatipu

Arrowtown Brewing Co.

My friend David Gent has a new beer company! Dave is a cool dude. He comes over to my studio about once a week and we drink gin & tonics and come up with new Black Mirror plots. Last night we came up with our magnum opus episode about a fake vasectomy with a plot twist. Hey! Maybe we should make a podcast where we record these ideas. That’s a good idea in itself and it’s also the root of a good idea for another Black Mirror episode in a parallel universe where podcasts about ideas are illegal. Wait, let me write this down.

Dave was also the bass guitarist for The Exponents, one of the most well-known New Zealand bands. He’s also the sperm man for the great Tane Gent, who you may remember as my assistant before he left me for that delightful succubus in Chicago.

Anyway, here’s the new video for their beer company. He says it only cost $300 to make.

Daily Photo – Panorama of Lake Wakatipu

On a recent trip to Glenorchy, I stopped along the road to make a panorama. I love it when the water here is so smooth and perfect. I continue to use Lightroom to do most of my stitching. It does a pretty good job, but it can occasionally really blow out some of the highlights. I wish I could make adjustments beforehand. Well, I actually can, but that takes an extra step because I have to export them from Lightroom and then bring them into Photoshop as layers before merging to the final image to make sure it transitions nicely.

Panorama of Lake Wakatipu

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2018-10-21 10:52:54
  • CameraFC220
  • Camera MakeDJI
  • Exposure Time1/3200
  • Aperture2.2
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length4.7 mm
  • FlashNo flash function
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
14
Dec 2018 : Friday
filed under  Arrowtown, Autumn, New Zealand, Otago, Queenstown, Sony A7R 3

An Autumn Wander

Aurora HDR 2019

I used the new Aurora (that is available for PC and Mac) to make today’s image. If you haven’t picked it up yet, then be sure to pop on over to the store and make it happen!

Daily Photo – An Autumn Wander

Last Autumn, I took the time to have some random walks around the countryside here between Queenstown and Arrowtown. There are hundreds and hundreds of little scenes like this everywhere. Most are on private property, but it seems to kind of okay to wander around anyway. No one has ever stopped me. In fact, I’ve met a lot of nice people. They see me with a camera and are a little suspicious, but then they chill out after we talk for a while and see I am just one of their friendly neighbors!

An Autumn Wander

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2018-04-30 11:59:04
  • CameraILCE-7RM3
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1/800
  • Aperture5
  • ISO250
  • Focal Length24.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
10
Dec 2018 : Monday
filed under  Arrowtown, Hasselblad X1D, Otago, Queenstown, Travel

Derek Sivers in a Field

Sam Harris Meditation App

I have many meditation apps… this is a new one from Sam Harris that I really like. I think it’s perfect for people just getting into it for the first time. I’ve been meditating for a while, but it’s still fun to “start over” with a new set of techniques. That Sam Harris, he’s a cool cat.

Daily Photo – Derek Sivers in a Field

I think I really nailed it with the title of this photo. It came to me instantly. I don’t know what force brings about these amazing photo titles, but I am very thankful for it.

Man, I miss this guy! We were gonna do a big road trip across New Zealand, but we were both too busy to make it happen. He’s in Portugal now. Maybe I should make a trip over thataway and we’ll do a road trip there!

Derek Sivers in a Field

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-03-21 04:50:19
  • CameraX1D-50c
  • Camera MakeHasselblad
  • Exposure Time1/2000
  • Aperture3.5
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length30.0 mm
  • FlashNo Flash
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

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