Kea

[MHD]

While this picture has a slight motion Blur on the wings I am very happy with this capture... This has had the levels adjusted slightly but no cropping


Taken VERY shortly after (love the d70)



The fact that I could capture these is testiment to the speed of the D70

So... What do ya think??

[Greg B]

They are great shots Scott, very good work.

The hand has gotta go from #2. Otherwise, all good

cheers

[Marty]

Great shots.
Would agree to crop out the hand from the second photo.

[MHD]

Of course

My plan is to crop to the two kea

[Onyx]

Is that an HP cam in the 2nd? I think I have that model too! HP320?

Great captures. I never knew the Kea had red wings on the underside. Beautiful mountain backdrop too - very much like Ron Reznick et al.

[MHD]

That is why a Kea in flight is so stunning!

No that is my brother's non-zoom Kodak easyshare... Does a great job, costs less than a 70-300G lens

[jonnydee]

Beautiful shots! Can I ask where these were taken? I'm assuming NZ somewhere, 'cos i'm off on holiday their soon and was looking for reccommendations of good places to take some shots.

Cheers,

Jon

[MHD]

There is a great walk (pics to follow ) up to Mueller Hut in Mt Cook national park..

This is about 1/2 way up... Oh when I say walk its more of a climb than a walk... you start at 600m asl and the hut is at 1810m asl and most (well everytime I have been there) the hut has been snowbound

Places that you are mad if you do not go:
Mt Cook
One of the Glaciers, Franz or Fox (I prefer franz)
Milford Sound

[jonnydee]

Thanks for the tips! Unfortunately we're just doing the north island this time around, (visiting a friend in New Plymouth, so don't have time for both islands...) I'll put those on the list for next time, was definately hoping to go to Milford Sound, but i've got a couple of other locations now too, cheers!

Jon

[MHD]

North island is great too...

If you have time the Tongariro crossing is great and being in New Plymouth you have to get up colse and personal with Taranaki

[Manta]

Loved the Keas. Couldn't get any photos of them on the wing when I was over in September - just lots of them sitting around on the ground beside the motorhome waiting for a handout!

New Zealand is an absolute paradise for photography. The only downside is having to stop every five minutes if you want to capture all those moments of panoramic grandeur.

We spent more time on the South Island and loved the freedom that comes with not having much traffic on the roads and having many of the sights to ourselves most of the time.

Favourite spots for the lens included the road from Greymouth to Arthur's Pass (especially the viaduct at Otira Gorge), the forests around Glenorchy and the coves along the Otago Pensinsula, near Dunedin.

We were a little disappointed with Milford Sound even though we had a rare fine day when we were there. The tide was out and the sandflies were many so a scenic flight was the go before we jumped straight back in the truck and headed back to Te Anua. I think we were only there for an hour or two. The road to Milford, however, is nothing short of SPECTACULAR. It's a shame I didn't have my D70 then but the little Kodak LS443 did a great job. Here's a scenic spot along the road:
http://www.pixspot.com/albums/userpics/Eglington_small.jpg

Well.. I've caught myself rambling but just wanted to comment on those beautiful Kea shots. They're pretty ungainly on the ground but magnificent in flight and you captured the moment really well.

Simon[/url]

[sheepie]

Sheepie VERY HAPPY now - thankyou.

You have captured the understated beauty of the smartest parrot in the world.




Like most Kiwi's, the Kea is pretty plain until you see what's on the inside (excuse the self promotion)...

[MHD]

Sheepie: My pleasure...

Manta: I hate you... I spent nearly a month in NZ and didnt even get close to the Bluebird briliant sky in your image

[Oneputt]

As I like shooting anything in flight I love these shots, but you can definately do more with the second one. Well done.

[lukeo]

some stunning photo's. The detail on those majestic birds is just great, a little cropping and some PP you'll have prints worthy of being on a wall.

[Manta]

Sheepie: My pleasure...

Manta: I hate you... I spent nearly a month in NZ and didnt even get close to the Bluebird briliant sky in your image

Can't have it all, MHD - you got your birdies!!! :D
If you're a true masochist, I'll have some more NZ blue sky shots on Pixspot soon.

[sheepie]

...The road to Milford, however, is nothing short of SPECTACULAR. It's a shame I didn't have my D70 then but the little Kodak LS443 did a great job. Here's a scenic spot along the road:
http://www.pixspot.com/albums/userpics/Eglington_small.jpg

Thanks for posting this Simon - now I know the name of the place some of my pics were taken back in 2001!

Check this...

http://sheepie.smugmug.com/photos/14331691-M.jpg


(Not intending to hijak the thread, was just interested to see a pic in the same place as one of mine!)

[MHD]

Both stunning pics...

Big pointy things, often ice covered.... NZ does them well

[Manta]

Thanks for posting this Simon - now I know the name of the place some of my pics were taken back in 2001!

Great shot Sheepie. Much better contrast than mine and sharper as well. They'd obviously mowed the lawn since your shot was taken!

Okay, back to the Keas....!!!!

[Manta]

Sorry MHD,

Sheepie and I hogged the last two clear days they had...

[MHD]

either that or you both did great cut and paste jobs

[sheepie]

either that or you both did great cut and paste jobs

Don't worry - by the time we got to Milford it was real gloomy. I don't think that took anything away from it though - it almost enhanced the size of the place.

Hrmmm - must scan some more of these and put them in the gallery (looking through the photo albums from our Honeymoon )

hehe - remember film? pain in the arse to get into an online album eh!

[mudder]

Wow, the first one is very detailed and sharp, and once you have a play with cropping or cloning out the hand in the second one they'd both make great prints!

Both are great captures... Really enjoyed, thanks for posting...

Cheers,
Mudder

[NewbieD70]

Hi MHD great pictures. I was looking on the site of yours to try and find the settings you used to capture these, however couldnt find the details on the actual pic on your site.. righ clicked and only came up as a Jpeg and no EXIF data.

Would like to know what you had it set on for these

[MHD]

Hi Newbie...

Go to the album
http://potofgrass.ath.cx/gallery/nz

click on a photo and when you are viewing the medium image shown there should be a link in the top right hand corner [photo properties] this will give you (brief) exif data