Photography After the Storm: Finding Calm in the Chaos
The first real winter storm arrived recently, bringing intense rain and driving wind. Rivers rose rapidly and numerous roads flooded and were closed across the region. Once the storm had passed and the water receded, there was a large amount of debris for authorities to clear away. With the ground sodden and very muddy and the river water discoloured and dirty, it was time to seek out different subjects to photograph.
Recently I purchased the Godox P260C Pro light, this versatile light works very well for video, portrait work, and indoor macro photography. The light can be powered by two Sony batteries, so I plan to buy a couple of batteries over the coming months to integrate the light into my outdoor macro photography. I’ve also been hunting for suitable backdrops and found a solid black board at the local Warehouse Stationery that will serve perfectly. In a spare room I set up the light, camera, and backdrop on a table and picked a daisy from the garden to photograph. I used a homemade clamp to hold the flower by its stem. The light performed beautifully for indoor macro, its built in diffuser produces soft, even illumination and the panel generates no heat, so the flowers don’t wilt during the shoot. I spent roughly three hours experimenting with different setups and lenses, and below is the final image I captured.
An indoor macro image of a daisy.
A few days after taking the daisy photo, on a spur of the moment decision I headed out for a drive to the Awatere Valley in Marlborough. Since the recent storm we had been getting very frosty mornings and cold, bright days, so I thought there might be a fair amount of snow on Tapuae‑o‑Uenuku, the highest peak in New Zealand outside the Southern Alps, towering at 2,885 meters in the Inland Kaikoura Range, it’s affectionately known to locals as Mt. Tappy. Sometimes when you cross the Welds Pass that separates the Wairau Valley from the Awatere Valley you never quite know what the weather will do, but thankfully, as I drove along Awatere Valley Road toward the best viewpoint there was a clear, uninterrupted view of Mt. Tappy. The image below is a five shot vertical panorama that I blended together using Adobe Camera Raw.
Tapuae-o-Uenuku, often affectionately called "Mt. Tappy" by locals. With Mt Alarm to the right.
From the Awatere Valley Road I then drove to Blind River Loop Road, which branches off State Highway One just south of Seddon. Taking a side road off Blind River Loop Road that brings you down to the beach access at Clifford Bay. On a clear day you can enjoy distant views across the Cook Strait to Wellington in the North Island. This stretch of coastline can be very rough and dramatic at times, but on this particular afternoon the sea was calm and almost flat.
When looking along the beach to the south, you have sweeping views across to the Cape Campbell Lighthouse, and to the north the lower Dashwood at the Awatere River mouth, with further vistas stretching up to Port Underwood. This is a beach I have visited a few times, perhaps not as often as I should, and each visit reveals something new. It’s well worth exploring through the changing seasons, and it could also be an excellent spot to capture atmospheric B‑roll footage.
Views across to Cape Campbell Lighthouse.
Looking north along the beach at Clifford Bay.
Now we are in the latter part of winter in New Zealand, and hopefully the weather will settle with fewer storms and more calm days to get out and photograph the region. In the meantime, this period gives me a good opportunity to explore more indoor macro work and perhaps experiment further with still life photography.