Exploring the Vast Landscapes of Rainbow Ski Field
On Saturday the 1st of February a trip by the members of the Marlborough Camera Club was planned to visit the Rainbow Ski Field. Late on the Friday afternoon the decision was made to move it to Sunday the 2nd of February due to poor weather conditions on the Saturday.
At 6.30am on the Sunday morning I loaded up the car and drove the 90 kms to the entrance to the Rainbow Ski Field Rd, this is where I met up with other members of the Marlborough Camera Club. I left my car in the carpark at the entrance and traveled the road to the Rainbow ski field in another members 4WD vehicle.
The road runs through the privately owned Rainbow Station and is tarseal until the turnoff to the ski field. From that point at certain times of the year the gate is open and you can drive through to Hamner Springs. From the turn off it is about a 7 km drive to the summit of the ski field. Allow 40 mintutes to drive from the entrace to the summit of the ski field.
This was my first time I had been to the Rainbow Ski Field and I was in awe of the vast landscapes that reveal the beauty of New Zealand.
Once we arrived at 9am it was left up to the individual members of what they wanted to photograph during the day. Some went on hikes, some targeted the alphine flowers. I chose to stay in close and spent some time with different panaromic compositions.
With my new tripod and camera cage I purchased at christmas time and using a range of lenses from two fixed prime lenses 12mm & 35mm to a mid range telephoto lense 55-210mm, I was able to capture a number of vertical panoramas. I prefer vertical panoramas over horizontal panaromas due to using the long edge allowing the photo to be 2000 pixels wider. More photos are used to make the panorama making it a higher resolution photo at around 90mpx, therefore capturing more intrigate detail.
At the summit of the Rainbow ski field, there are two Tarns (small mountain lakes). After arriving there was light winds so I was able to capture the reflections in one of the Tarns. The lower tarn had a very low water level.
At the top of the ski field, you can hike to some other tarns and there is also views across Lake Rotoiti.
After a lunch break, I went down to the edge of the tarn and took two timelapse videos. Each video took sixteen minutes to create, so I sat there thinking how peaceful it was and just admired the awesome landscape.
We packed the cars up and left the ski field at 3pm and drove back to where our cars were parked. We all then meet up for coffee at the Alpine Lodge in St Arnaud. From there we went on separate ways, and I arrived home at 6:30pm that evening.
It was a enjoyable day out with great company, will revisit in winter when the ski field opens for the season.