Along the paved walk to the Nugget Point lighthouse in New Zealand (you can see it on the left), there are several good viewpoints, great for the conservative traveler. But if you look a little harder and steer away from the paved path, you can traverse the ridge and climb up the mountain, finding a higher and more astounding view near the top. I wouldn’t recommend bringing your grandmother up here or anything but in my opinion, the view makes it well worth the effort. So much so, that I climbed up here three times to wait for the right sky and the golden light – with a flashlight in tow for the dark climb down.
Upcoming Post-processing Workshops
In my upcoming workshops, I’ll be sharing my complete digital workflow from start to finish, focusing on manual blending techniques and how to maintain complete control over your images. From color correction to complex masking, if you’re curious how I carefully craft my photography, this is your chance to find out.
February 10th – Sydney, Australia
March 23rd – San Diego, California
Technical Mumbo Jumbo
Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 24-70 f/2.8 (Shot at 30 mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-33 / BH-55 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/11
3 Exposure Brackets (-1, 0, +1)
Location: Shot in Nugget Point, New Zealand – December 2012, and post-processed in Bagan, Myanmar – January 2013 (with frequent power outages).
Hardware: 15” 2011 Macbook Pro, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet
Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK Color Efex Pro 4
Technique and Details: Digital Blending and Luminance Masking
All 3 exposures were blended together using luminance masking techniques in Photoshop. After that, simple color, contrast, and texture adjustments were applied.
Espresso: Lavazza Rossa
