BIG Week, Big Swell, Big Art

Last week's web log was one of the biggest read ones done. Thank you for reading it and thanks to everyone that participated in the conversation. It is always a bit nerve racking putting out your own heartfelt opinion. It is nice to know I'm not alone in how Ahipara is straining under pressure. You can read that web log here.

Last Year's Mega Swell... not this time.

But I did get skunked! That nor-west devil wind and then the switch to 40 knot sou-westers meant Ahipara wasn't going to be great. I opted for the easy; I went to Whatipu. The surf sucked, but being a photographer there is always a silver lining. The coastline of Whatipu is a photographer's playground. Here's a couple of fun shots.

Little Huia, just a wee bit too little

Arty mate, it is A R T Y

On the upside, there was a pic published on Coastalwatch.com

On Thursday the opportunity to visit Gibbs Farm came along. Dunno what Gibbs is about? Here's the link to their page.

There's a lot of walking involved so I packed light. Just a camera, a 50mm Zeiss lens, a powerful neatural denisity filter and a light tripod. A 50mm lens is about the same view a eyesight. It's often favoured lens of photographers and often the sharpest lens most photographers own. A ND filter is a dark grey piece of glass; it limits the amount of light through the lens. It means you can make very long exposures- over 30 seconds [which is in turn why you need the tripod]. If it is windy and the clouds are racing you can create dramatic skies. That is what I was going for; the massive art works pitted against a big sky.

Here are my favourites;