This is another quadcopter shot over scenic Waiheke Island. Just seeing these photos makes me want to return! One kind of scary thing happened when I launched the quad here… we were all riding horses, and it spooked one of them. It jumped and shook off my friend David Maxwell. Luckily, he landed on his voluminous hair and all was fine!
What a beautiful little island this is? For those of you that don’t know, this island is just a short ferry ride from Auckland in New Zealand. It’s not a huge island, but big enough to hold a bunch of houses and some little towns. This is also a favorite place for some of the wealthier Kiwis to have a second home that they vacation to.
When we stayed on Waiheke for a few days, we ended up heading over to try out a few different wineries. I don’t have a perfect memory, but I seem to remember this beach was the home to Man o’ War wineries. I didn’t know what was over on the other side of the dock, so I launched the quad to swing it around and get a sense of the whole coastline.
Why not come down here to New Zealand! It’s summertime and a great excuse to get out of all that coldness. If you need more incentive, check out the New Zealand Keyword in my SmugMug Portfolio!.
This one was a fun little photo. I show you how to increase the sharpness and glow to selected areas of the image using layers. Thank you again for being a Passport Member and I hope you enjoy today’s edit!
The hilly areas of New Zealand (which is probably like 75%!) are filled with these huge trees that are just kinda hanging out alone on hilltops. Many times I see some distant tree and I think, “Hey, I should walk over there!” So, this day on Waiheke I did! You usually have to jump over a fence or four, but no one ever minds. You can walk through these hills all day long and never see another soul!
Hey if you’re a lucky Passport Member, you’ll see a new how-to-edit video for today’s photo. It’s mostly a vertirama made from several quadcopter shots. I think you’ll enjoy the edit!
And here’s quick how-to video that shows you how to stitch together a four shot vertorama I shot using the DJI Phantom Pro 4 drone and then edit the vertorama in Aurora HDR 2018.
Thanks again to my friend Deanie for letting my family stay at her place on Waiheke! It was a great little vacation after Tina’s doctor visit in Auckland. Waiheke is less than an hour away by ferry and it’s like a perfect little island getaway! There are so many cool beaches and awesome places to visit. If you have an extra few days on your next trip to New Zealand, be sure to come over thisaway!
If you don’t want to take the ferry to Waiheke Island and instead arrive in style, I recommend Heletranz as an incredible way to see the island and travel about. They can set you up for a day-long experience that includes visiting wineries, crazy car rides, knife-throwing, gun-shooting (those last three via Boomrock), and more! Here’s a live show we did while there!
I got up with the quadcopter as many times as I could while on the island… looking at these photos really makes me want to go back. It’s just a short ferry ride from Auckland, and now I have some new friends that live there. If you’re planning a month-long trip to New Zealand, be sure to spend a few days over here, touring the wineries and whatnot.
This is all footage from the Phantom 4 Pro that I shot here in New Zealand — all locations are less than an hour from my studio here in Queenstown (a little Queenstown plug there!). Music is “AMB – Set in Stone” — see the full DJI Phantom 4 Pro Review here on the site.
Here’s another quad shot (two days in a row!). Again, I loved the shot from the ground-based angle. But when I got the quad up in the air, it was a totally different scene. At least carrying around the Mavic is now easier than carrying around the Phantom. I really dig this little device!
I’ve gotten really into this guy “Max Cooper” — check him out! 🙂
What a pretty island! I’ve heard about how pretty it is but really had no idea it was so “varied.” There are so many of these peninsulas and fingers out into the ocean… there must be over a hundred of them, and they all seem to have perfect little houses scattered here and there and everywhere.
I’ve had a blast designing and building these bags with Peak Design. Here’s a new update from the team:
Two million dollars! We hit that milestone on Sunday afternoon and we couldn’t be more stoked. Over the past week the campaign has really picked up some steam…we’re now seeing nearly three times as many new backers every day as we did 2 weeks ago. You guys must be telling your friends or something. Absolutely incredible. Thank you, backers, for your continued support and sharing.
Sit down with Peak Design founder Peter Dering and head designer Art Viger as they take you through an up-close, personal, dare we say sensual journey in and around the Everyday Backpack:
On a personal note, I want you to notice how smooth Art Viger’s skin is in this video. It’s incredible. Smooth Dolphin in the Water!
When we were on Waiheke Island, we took a fun Heletranz chopper ride over to visit the Man o’ War winery. This is the cute little church we saw upon landing. After we landed, we got out the quadcopter and then started seeing everything again from the air!
I’ll start posting more of my abstract work in our Facebook Group at Becoming an Artist Facebook Group. Be sure to join that group and share your art too! 🙂
Here’s a photo I almost didn’t publish. I actually take a ton of photos like this. Little studies in light and texture with some surprises here and there. It’s quite abstract, and I don’t publish a lot of that. This is part of a unique winery on Waiheke Island.
