Early Morning Run
Early Morning Run – Sunrise over Rangitoto Island from Takapuna Beach, Auckland, New Zealand
I was on the beach at 6.30 am yesterday morning just to catch the sunrise. It looked promising when I first looked out of the window so I took my camera and tripod onto the beach and waited. This is just one of 40 images I took as the sun crept towards and then broke over the horizon.
Point of Reference
This geodetic survey beacon sits at the top of Mount Albert, one of many extinct volcanic cones that dot the Auckland landscape. The beacon marks the position of the geodetic survey mark officially known as B1LE Mt Albert No. 3, and is just one of about 113,263 geodetic marks in New Zealand, the Chatham Islands, and Antarctica. This image was taken late in the afternoon, about 45 minutes before sunset.
Trig Station - Mt Albert, Auckland, New Zealand
Although only a modest 135 metres tall, Mt Albert (named Owairaka in Maori) offers 360 degree views of Auckland and it’s suburbs, including this one of Auckland’s central business district over the suburbs of Mt Albert and Epsom.
Auckland CBD from Mt Albert, Auckland, New Zealand
Mt Albert - Towards the West and the Waitakere Ranges
Full Moon
This image was taken from Takapuna Beach on 19 March, the day before (for New Zealand) the Moon was at perigee, its closest distance to the Earth for the lunar month and for 2011, 356578 km. It was just as well that it was taken then because the sky was clouded over on 20 March. There was a great sunset on both of the nights in question. I was fishing in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour at sunset on 20 March but didn’t have a camera with me to capture the crimson clouds in western sky as the sun sank below the horizon.
Perigee Moon - Takapuna Beach, Auckland, New Zealand
Truman Beach
Dusk and sunset are great times for photographers. Having a beach virtually to one’s self at this time of day is magic. This image was taken on the evening before bad weather closed in.
Truman Beach north of Punakaiki, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand
The West Coast of the South Island is rugged and, for the most part, remote. Truman Beach is only three kilometers from the very popular Punakaiki Rocks tourist spot. Whereas the lookout at the Punakaiki Rocks is busy at most times of the day, this tiny beach only a short drive north receives only a fraction of the number of visitors the “Pancake Rocks” at Punakaiki. The limestone formations and caves in the cliffs make the visit worthwhile. At one place a small waterfall drops to the pebble beach from a stream at the top of the cliff.
Limestone Cliffs and Waterfall - Truman Beach
Marathon
Today was the running of the 2010 Adidas Auckland Marathon. Starting in Devonport on Auckland’s North Shore, the route crosses the Auckland Harbour Bridge via Takapuna and Northcote and the winds on a return journey along the Waterfront Drive to St Heliers and back to Victoria Park.
These images were taken as the runners passed through Takapuna using a zooming technique which I tried for the first time.
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Blue and Gold
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