Keeping Watch

A few weeks ago, I made a last minute decision to join my camera club on a weekend away. You know how it goes, previously made plans fall through which gives opportunities for other things. The trip was quite brief, just two nights, but the forecast looked reasonable.

I spent most of my time with Vicky and Pieter, we laughed, we wandered and we even found some interesting new places to photograph. Thanks to both of you for being so patient when my exposures drifted into the multi minute territories I enjoy so much. I have said this a few times and I will say a lot more in the future, I love how the unconverted 6D I have allows me to shoot long exposures no matter what time of day it is.

The first image I want to share with you is from Lake Taupo. This was captured at around midday, on a bright sunny warm day. The waves lapped at my feet, the lake was a buzz with the sound of boats and jet ski's. But all of that fades into the background for this image. Why this composition, because of the contrasts. Not because of blacks and whites (although I do love the high key look), it's because of the subjects. In the distance you can see Mt Tauhara, in the foreground is Lake Taupo, the caldera of a super volcano which is active but currently sleeping. The final subject is the tree with the bird watching the world pass by. According to what I have read, the last major eruption from Lake Taupo (in around 220AD) started when an earthquake near Mt Tauhara cracked open the magma chamber beneath and allowed the magma from Mt Tauhara to flow into the magma chamber beneath Lake Taupo. This triggered an eruption which was calculated to be around 7 on the VEI scale, the largest eruption in the past 5000 years. So on the surface this image looks idyllic, if it was in colour you could even say post card material, but it tells a deeper story, of death and rebirth, beauty from tragedy.

The details for this image are, unconverted Canon 6D mki using Magic Lantern firmware, Canon 24-105mm L lens at 95mm, 720 nm Zomei filter, ISO 50, 180 sec's, F11. Then processed in Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop.