12. March 2013 09:27
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas is now 6 months and is enjoying the easy life...
On the weekend we went down to La Perouse to do these creative shots of him at sunset.
I always said that I would take a photo of him and put it in a frame...but not sure if this is what everyone had in mind.
It was pretty good fun trying to set it all up. A lot of other walkers on the beach were wondering what we were doing.
I have been planning this photo for a while.
The frame I had picked up from a garbage collection day last month outside a block of units with this particular photo in mind.
The chair and table are bath aids and foot stools from home.
It was really cool to see everything come together in the end. Unfortunately we missed just the end of the sunset as there were a few clouds on the horizon.
A lot of lessons learnt came out of it. Even though the photos came out almost as I had envisioned...I still had a few things that I could have done better....just small things such as two flashes to light frame and Lucas independently, CTO gelling the flash to match the ambient, using an umbrella to avoid hard shadows, bringing a mid range zoom to have more composition options and be able to get a bit closer, use black string to hold up the frame instead of white, bring a pillow to keep his head up and then stripping his clothes and then bring my light meter to check the setting to start with instead of chimping.
It was the first time I've used the D800 for this (in the past I've been using my D50 with a different shutter system) and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to balance out the ambient with the flash and still stay below the sync speed...but it worked out like a charm...or maybe I was just lucky!
12. March 2013 09:16
by Rene Pallesen
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Last night Kim made a very nice Creme Brulee...Yummiiiii!!!!
She asked me to take a couple of photos which I think turned out quite nicely.
12. March 2013 09:15
by Rene Pallesen
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On the weekend we went to the Sydney Wildlife Park at Darling Harbour.
It was good fun to show Aiden all the different animals (Although he was pretty tired by the end).
The highlight of the exhibition is the 4.5 meter long Saltie (Saltwater Crocodile). He is such a darling and he loved his girlfriends so much that he had them over for dinner (Ha Ha).
Aiden wasn't sure about the crocodiles and definitely wasn't happy with the big mouth and all the sharp teeth...
...Daddy came to the rescue and threw himself at the monster.
He was a bit more happy with the smaller cuddlier animals...
Such as the wombats...
...the Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies...
...or even the Tasmanian Devil.
The start of the exhibition is pretty amazing as you wank through a large enclosure with lots of butterflies flying around.
And besides from that there is of cause a lot of lizards, frogs and snakes on display.
6. March 2013 09:33
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas is now 5 months and we did his monthly photos the other day together with Aiden.
This also gave me an excuse to try out the new strobe I bought for photography (an Alien Bee B800) and it worked out great...so much better than trying to use multiple flashes inside a softbox to get enough power.
Aiden and Lucas are already ganging up on us and sitting giggling together. They absolutely adore eachother although Aiden sometime can get a little rough with Lucas.
Afterwards we went to the local Park to have a bit of a play (see previous post with photos of Aiden).
5. March 2013 03:01
by Rene Pallesen
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26. February 2013 08:47
by Rene Pallesen
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The trip in New Zealand first landed us in Christchurch where we picked up our rental car and stayed the first night.
Next day we drove through Arthurs Pass to Franz Josef (a long drive) where we stayed for three nights. This was mainly so that we had a spare day in case the weather closed in and we couldn't fly to the glacier.
From there we drove to Queenstown via Wanaka and the Crowns Range (another long drive). We were lucky that this was open and that snow chains weren't required.
Here we stayed for 5 nights whereafter we went to Twizel near Mount Cook for two night.
Lastly we drive back to Christchurch to fly out.
Queenstown is a scenic place, but lost of other scenic places along the way.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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At Lake Pukaki there is this little beautiful chapel at the lake.
Again this is a really photographed location and much more busy than I remember it.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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At Queenstown we did 4 days of skiing at the Remarkables.
The boys did two days of lessons and were with me the other two days. Some friends of our joined us in Queenstown, so for the other days I had Tod to go with, who is a very decent snowboarder.
Aiden and Lucas are both becoming good skiers, but especially Lucas is getting really good to the point where I can bring him onto black runs.
Although Kim is still very much a beginner she still did two days of skiing sticking to the beginner slope where there is a 'magic carpet' lift. I did see some improvement to last year, but she is still too scared to go on the proper lifts.
I bought my own ski boots last year and brought them along (my feet are not compatible with rental ski boots).
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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The west coast of New Zealand is really beautiful.
It is not very populated and there are not a lot of tourists either as it is hard to get to.
We did a lot of walks in the area both around beautiful lakes and also at the beach outside Fox Glacier and Franz Josef villages.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Driving back towards Queenstown we had to go through Wanaka. Boy, has it changed! It used to be a small place with maybe fifty houses, but now it is a proper town with lots of cars and traffic.
It is very scenic approaching Lake Wanaka, and the lake itself has this tree growing in the water that photographers from all around the world come here to take photos of.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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A place that I have always found really magical is driving through the Lindis Pass.
Kim doesn't think much of it, but since I visited it the first time, I've alwas found the rolling hills and the colours absolutely stunning.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Kims highlight on the trip was to go up on a real glacier.
She had booked a helicopter tour that would take up up on a section of the glacier between the two major ice falls.
This is a section of the glacier that Andy and I dreaded having to walk through 20 years ago when we were climbing higher up on the glacier. Mind you, back then there was probably another 100 metres of ice on top of where we landed on this day.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Driving from Christchurch toward the west coast we passed the Castle Hills boulders.
This is a phenomenal place to go climbing if you are a good boulderer. It is also quite scenic to just go for a walk.
We saw lots of people with their bouldering mats (a soft mat to land on when you are climbing).
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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At Mount Cook we did a long 10km walk to the start of the Hooker glacier.
It is a beautiful walk where you walk past the Tasman Glacier and Muller Glacier before you eventually come to the Hooker Glacier lake.
The lake was frozen with an iceberg floating around in it.
25. December 2022 18:12
by Rene Pallesen
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As usual, we did a family thing at Kims sisters house.
At home I had Aiden make Havregryns Kugler (oat balls).