Mikasarg

Oparara

The Oparara River flows through a limestone arch. We entered here through a pot hole above. Mark looks reflectively out at the New Zealand bush. West Coast, Sou...
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The Oparara River flows through a limestone arch. We entered here through a pot hole above. Mark looks reflectively out at the New Zealand bush. West Coast, South Island.
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OLYMPUS u720SW,S720SW

settings

Aperture f/3.5 ISO 64 Shutter 1/30 Focal Length 670/100

upload_date

Jan, 2016

Views

307

Likes

+24

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in Oparara, South Island, New Zealand. I had just finished a five day hike over the Heaphy track and teamed up with two other hikers I met on the trail to visit Oparara. We hired a clapped out old car and drove here from the Karamea township. There are various short treks around the Oparara River. This area in the photo is called the Moira Gate Arch. The Oparara River runs beneath it. To get under the arch we had to crawl through a pot hole in the upper surface. Mark, one of the other trampers, walked out to the point where you see him in the photo when I took the shot of him silhouetted against the downstream river exit from the arch.

Time

It would have been mid morning and was between Christmas and New Year so it would have still been spring at this time of year here.

Lighting

Right place, right time. I have always tried to focus more on composition rather than the camera settings. The natural light and in some aspects the lack thereof did all the work for me, all I had to do was frame it. Of course the naked eye could see more detail in the surroundings but the light intensity has a different affect on the camera so that the immediate foreground and sides appear pitch black -which I like and so do many people it seems... For the geeks the settings were: f/3.5 @ 6.7 mm, 1/30, ISO 64, No Flash

Equipment

OLYMPUS u720SW camera, no flash, no tripod - so hand held.

Inspiration

I was lucky the others new of this place as it is not sign posted or anything. I was somewhat surprised to see them just walk up to a hole in the ground and climb through but what lay beneath made it very worthwhile despite my apprehension. It was quite safe and the natural view was quite inspiring. I took another shot of this but Mark was heading back and the magic is not quite the same. I've titled this photo "Reflections" because of the water inference and the appearance of the silhouetted figure in passive thought while gazing at what nature has carved out of this space and filled it with.

Editing

I've not touched the photo up. I could fiddle with mid-tones or contrast but there is a hint of high exposure in the photo and tampering with the variable light around the picture tends to impact on one of the other areas so best to leave it and enjoy it for what it is.

In my camera bag

This was a point and shoot camera. Sure it had plenty of options, and settings that can be manipulated but in the poor light I was happy to let the camera do the work and focus more on the composition. Because I had been hiking with 17kg of camping gear and essentials for 5+ days, I really couldn't cope with carrying a full DSLR on this occasion, so I packed the little camera and took many photos of my hiking adventure. The camera was robust and waterproof and had some nice features at that time of camera evolution.

Feedback

My partner would probably prefer using my DSLR and manually controlling speed and aperture. She would probably use a tripod and try a number of exposures to get the perfect balance. I didn't have the luxury of being able to take the "better" camera with me in this remote part of New Zealand. I think if I were to advise anyone, I would say focus on composition, put yourself in the picture where you are the camera and become aware of all that is around you. I love the third/third/third rule and use it a lot. You get good balanced photos dividing up your frame into thirds usually. And it's not a rule that requires accuracy - approximate works fine too. Here there is a bit less of thirds due to the confines of the environment, but it still frames up very well.

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Mikasarg

Oparara

The Oparara River flows through a limestone arch. We entered here through a pot hole above. Mark looks reflectively out at the New Zealand bush. West Coast, Sou... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow Mikasarg

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The Oparara River flows through a limestone arch. We entered here through a pot hole above. Mark looks reflectively out at the New Zealand bush. West Coast, Sou...
Read more

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