MeaWannaShootaLotta - Day 5

Ok..So that I can get on with other news, allow me to finish blogging about our wonderful time in and around Queenstown. Where are we? Oh, yeah. Day 5.

Well, day 5 started with a handful of us deciding that it was our last morning, so no matter the weather, we were all up for some sunrise landscapes. Would there be a sunrise, per se'? Well it didn't really matter. We knew there would be light, and that is all you need to create an image. The rest is just adaptability. As you can imagine, the lake was now very full. Queenstown had been all over the New Zealand news with fears of flooding, and there we were, right smack bang in the middle of all that commotion trying to run a workshop. But, as I have said, 'advantage through adversity' is what we learned and I believe that we gained more from it than what we would have had the weather situation been bright and sunny. So, Mike, Brett, Greg and I headed out in the early morning drizzle to find some foreground interest. And we did. We found it, we moved it into place, we made it happen.

After our brief but successful shoot, We met the well rested others who were already into their first coffee at Joe's Garage. The day ahead was looking very unpredictable. The weather was not looking like it was going to improve.

Thankfully, Glynn had arranged with one of the interesting venues where we had eaten for us to return and do some photography there. It was an interesting bar with great light and interesting options. So, after picking up our models, we made our way there. We immediately set about establishing some off camera flash photographs, while a small group went with Mike for a walk around town. There were floods to photograph after all!

After lunch we made our way to the ruins. I had arranged for Nicky Bodle, one of  the models from a previous day, to join us at the ruins that afternoon complete with her wedding dress. You see, I had an idea for some photographs. Nicky came, complete with bridal dress and a flower in her hair.

By the time she arrived we had established a strobe setup that gave us some wonderful rim lighting within the ruins. Working with German model, Claudia Pommer, we were very quickly taking some beautiful images. I was very excited. Its not every day you have a beautiful model in an old ruin creating some beautiful back lit images. I do love my rimlighting....When Nicky arrived, we were ready for her also. It was a great shoot and some of my favourite images from the tour were taken in that final hour of the entire week of workshops.

Our workshop officially ended at 5pm, but we all decided to go to the top of the mountain overlooking Queenstown. So, we boarded the Gondola and braved the cold. Reaching the viewpoint, we set up our tripods and waited for the changing light, the setting sun and the twinkling of city lights. We were cold and slightly crazy, but we were having a great time.

MeAWannaShootaLotta was a great trip. It was fraught with exhausting demands, especially on Mike, Glynn and myself, but we were rewarded for our efforts. For those of us staying on, we still had Milford Sound and the drive to Christchurch to go. But the tour itself was wonderful. I am looking very much forward to the same time next year when we can go back and repeat the madness. This time, I won't be hoping for anything in terms of the weather. I know what can be done in that part of the world, no matter what gets served up.