Highway to the pass
The road crossing Arthur's pass national park and the backbone of New Zealand's south island.
The road crossing Arthur's pass national park and the backbone of New Zealand's south island.
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SONY ILCE-7SM2
Aperture f/5.6 ISO 3200 Shutter 1/800 Focal Length 330/10 
Arthur Pass, Canterbury, NZ
Nov, 2018Views
406
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Straight Roads Photo Contest
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
All Star
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this shot on the SH 73 just before entering Arthur's pass national park on New Zealand's South island. The road crosses the mountainous backbone of the South island through an epic pass where wonders are everywhere around travelers.Time
The day before I was in Castle hill in the opposite direction and slept on the side of the road. I hit the road early morning to shoot the sunrise in the national park and this was the first shot of the day.Lighting
My favourite weather for landscape photography is precisly this cloudy with holes weather during sunrise and sunset. When the sun is gold and gives great colors and texture to the clouds. It looked like there was a holy spot of light in the valley far away.Equipment
For this shot I used my Sony alpha 7S II and my Canon 24-70mm f4.Inspiration
I love New Zealand roads ! I had the idea to capture the greatness and epicness surrounding these lonely endless roads everywhere during my roadtrip through the country. When I saw the whole mountain having a sun bath I knew this was the road shot of the day.Editing
I wanted to insist on the light spot in the distant valley so I added vignetting and brought the darks down all around the frame and on the road. I brought up contrast and clarity to give a better texture to the sky. I always bring the blacks level up a bit to give a moody look to this kind of dusky clair obscur shots.In my camera bag
I have a Sony a7S II camera with a CANON 24-70mm f4, a SAMYANG 14mm f2.8, a CANON 75-300mm f4-5.6 and a CANON 50mm f1.8. I also have a M42 adapter and an Helios 44-2 58mm f2.8 lens made in USSR. And a Pola filter.Feedback
I think the best advice I can give here is "Go on roadtrip. And sleep by the road!" Roadtrips are so fulfilling and waking up to a stunning view is always a great feeling of freedom. When you feel that you waking up at the same time than Earth you will realize that there is often a gift to contemplate around you beacause Earth is often waking in a spectacular show of light, shades and colors. Shoot in RAW if you can so your dynamic range will be larger for dark and bright areas. On my Sony a7SII I just overexpose a little bit the bright areas so the dark areas are not to noisy.
